Offshore tax shelters get surge of cash
2016 2016-06Read it in the scan (PDF at ETOL), page 11 →
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Canadian corporations and individuals increased four-fold the amount of money they transferred into tax havens last year. They poured almost $40 billion into the tropical islands and European ju risdictions that hide funds from Canadian taxes, new statistics show.
According to Dennis Howlett, executive director of Canadians for Tax Fairness, citing foreign direct investment numbers from Statistics Canada, the total amount of wealth held in the 10 most popu lar tax havens now sits at $270 billion.
In 2015, $13 billion went to the Cayman Islands, $9 billion to Barbados, and nearly $8 billion to the delphia on the day before the Democratic Na tional Convention opens.
Noting that Democratic Party leaders have failed to take seriously the measures needed to prevent climate catastrophe, the organiz ers ask everyone to join a march through the streets of Philadelphia to demand a ban on fracking, a halt to the reckless expansion of gas and oil pipelines, the export of liquefied natural gas and crude oil, nuclear power, and reliance on dirty energy sources such as bio mass and incineration.
In addition, the demonstration will call for swift action to invest in solar, wind, and other clean energy power sources and energy ef ficiency measures across the United States so that we can transition quickly to a 100% renewable energy economy.
To build the kind of movement that we need, the organizers emphasize their support for a just transition for workers who are employed by the fossil-fuel industry, and policies to en sure that the new renewable energy econo my is publicly managed, provides good clean union jobs, and benefits communities across the country.
Between now and July 24, local climate ac tion groups can use the national endorse ment drive to reach out in their areas, broad en their base, and find those for whom the Philadelphia march will be an empowering first step into the movement. n ... Chicago Teachers (continued from page 4: “Chicago Teachers Union considers strike”) other powerful Chicago unions, and soliciting their active sup port. This means continuing to mobilize independently, and in opposition to the Rauner/ Emanuel austerity program. The capitalist Democratic and Re publican party politicians in City Hall and Springfield are in the service of big-business interests and cannot be relied on to de liver the solutions needed. It is only the powerful force of mass action and independent struggle that will force concessions, par tial gains, and future victories.
A theme of the April 1 Day of Action was “Broke On Purpose,” a recognition that this “budget crisis” was manufactured by Rauner and his vacation friend Rahm Emanuel, who are pri marily interested in promoting their pro-big-business agenda. They are joined at the hip in their quest to weaken and break Illinois unions and cater to the profit lust of large corporations and their billionaire friends, like Illinois’ richest man, hedge-fund Bahamas. Money sent to Switzerland jumped up by 58 per cent over the previous year.
The recent Panama Papers investigations, con ducted by the International Consortium of Inves tigative Journalists, exposed the shady world of offshore tax havens. Scores of reports have shown how illicit money mingles with cash kept out of the reach of tax collectors in a network of shell companies that hide their owners’ true identities.
“Tightening corporate taxes is something the [Trudeau] government hasn’t shown that it’s will ing to do,” Howlett said. Better to run a huge defi cit than to tax the rich, evidently. n tycoon Ken Griffin. As just one example of many, Griffin has been rewarded with millions in tax breaks in real estate and oth er business transactions with the city.
The issue is not one of promot ing budget “fairness” or “shared sacrifice.” For working people, the budgets of capitalist govern ments have never been fair— and never will be. It’s always the working class that pays, and when a periodic “crisis” emerg es, the working class is always called on to pay more.
We support a Workers Budget that puts people before profits.
If state and local budgets need to be balanced, balance them on the backs of Ken Griffin and his billionaire friends, their big cor porations, their tax-advantaged hedge funds, and their tax-free off-shore accounts. We don’t ad vocate another dime of tax mon ey being lifted from the pockets of the working people of this state, who daily are compelled to endure the devastating reality of economic injustice. n SOCIALIST ACTION MAY 2016 11
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