The world's wealthiest people have over $21 trillion dollars (that's 21 followed by 12 zeroes) hidden away from the tax authorities. This is according to a recently released study* into secret tax havens. The report, called The Price of Offshore Revisited, is from an organization called the Tax Justice Network, written by high-profile economist James Henry.
It says the figure the rich have quietly stashed away is equivalent to half the size of the U.S. and Japanese economies combined. However, this figure is a conservative estimate and Mr Henry believes the real amount could be as much as $32 trillion. Henry said private wealth held offshore represents "a huge black hole in the world economy."
Henry based his assessment on data from the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the United Nations, central banks, and national treasuries. He wrote: "The number of the global super-rich…is fewer than 10 million people.
Of these, less than 100,000 people worldwide own $9.8 trillion of wealth held offshore." He said the wealth in tax havens makes "a significant difference" to our current thinking about inequality. Another unsavoury aspect highlighted by Henry is that "lost tax revenue…is large enough to make a significant difference to the finances of many countries". He also says the world's largest banks designed and operate tax havens, which specialize in "tax dodging".
Article Source: Breakingnewsenglish
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