Paradise Papers: Tax haven secrets of super-rich including the Queen exposed - Politics Forum.org | PoFo

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#14859493
Independent wrote:Millions of pounds of the Queen's private money is invested in offshore funds in Caribbean tax havens, a huge leak of financial documents referred to as the "Paradise Papers" has revealed.

The papers show that the Duchy of Lancaster, which manages investments for the Queen's £520m private estate, reportedly invested around £10m in funds in based in Bermuda and the Cayman Islands.

They also show that the monarch holds investments, via funds, in businesses including off license chain Threshers and BrightHouse, which has been accused of exploiting people with mental health problems and learning disabilities in order to sell its products.

There is no suggestion that the funds are illegal.

The 13.4 million documents, which have been dubbed the Paradise Papers, lay bare how thousands of rich and powerful individuals invested vast sums of money in murky offshore structures.

They reveal that Donald Trump's Secretary of Commerce, Wilbur Ross, owns a stake in a firm linked to Russian businessmen who are the subject of US sanctions.

The papers were obtained by German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung and are being analysed by 100 media organisations across the world.

The papers come from the company registries of 19 tax havens, and two offshore service providers.

They were released less than two years after the leak of the Panama Papers cause shockwaves by exposing how dozens of well-known figures were hiding wealth in offshore funds.

Lord Ashcroft, the Conservative peer and a major donor to the party, was also named in the papers.

Independent


Caribbean?

This is so disingenuous clickbait crap, that is quite unimaginable. That the Queen is invested in British territories goes without say. That someone would suggest that the Crown takes advantage of its own British territories maliciously goes a bit far. This is bad trolling of the kind that sticks which is what is malicious.
#14859496
So, what is it to be this time? The Brits control their tax havens or they don't control their tax havens?

Anyways, so much is clear, closing down tax havens would be bad for the City.

Here is the link from the Guardian:

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2017/n ... App_Submit

and the Sueddeutsche in English:

https://projekte.sueddeutsche.de/paradi ... k-e969006/

The wealthy men in Trump's inner circle with links to tax havens:

On the election trail in 2016, Donald Trump promised tax reforms to tempt major US companies back onshore and “bring back trillions of dollars from American businesses that is now parked overseas”.
[...]
But Trump is surrounded by wealthy individuals who have legally either sheltered their own investments or presided over policies to keep company profits or clients’ funds out of reach in tax havens.


The data leak is huge and is going to make a lot of the powerful feel very uncomfortable.
#14859534
All I get from this is another reason for the Queen to fund her own repairs to fix her house. Where would I prefer £370mn to go. To rebuild one mansion for one old lady or build millions of homes for people who can't afford to move out of their parents house. No brainer.

Why the fuck should anyone have tax payers money to repair their home anyway? The age of superiority from birth is over. Let's bring the UK to the 21st century and remove the aristocrats from their birth privileges and send them to work like everyone else in society.

As for tax dodging, why do the government sit on their hands over this? Being that tax dodging is worth around £100mn it is actually enough to fill in our budget blackhole. Sometimes I think you have to be stupid to be an MP. Intelligent people need not apply.
#14859658
Has not the Queen and the Monarchy had a large role in the success Britain? Suggesting they are a drain on the nation is a touch shortsighted. Also, their wealth has been around a long, long time.

*shakes head*

If it were possible, the Monarchy should have had a kind of pre-nuptial agreement where Their wealth couldn’t be touched by the hordes in later years :|
#14859686
Lately there has been a concerted multinational effort to chase small and medium tax avoiders but the super rich can easily escape the tax net.

I already saw comments that those super rich with fortunes stashed away in tax heavens did not necessarily break the laws. Of course not, their ilk made the laws.

The same applies for big corporations and companies having billions in income (e.g. Apple) but paying almost nothing in taxes due to loopholes and accountant tricks.

I used to pay more than half my basic salary in income taxes in Europe. Now that I am no longer in Europe, I cannot understand why the common people accept to pay so much of their income.

I rarely use the F word but fuck it and fuck them all.
#14859754
ness31 wrote:Has not the Queen and the Monarchy had a large role in the success Britain? Suggesting they are a drain on the nation is a touch shortsighted. Also, their wealth has been around a long, long time.


The monachy's success ended the day they lost the civil war about 400 years ago. Now they are just a puppet for Westminster. And sure, I have no problem with them keeping their wealth. My problem is the tax payer shouldn't be propping up that wealth to fix their crumbling estate, especially when we have people homeless on the streets. We are all equal are we not? Unfortunately nobody has told the UK medieval political system yet. And while we still have unelected aristocrats walking into the Lord's to collect their prostitute/drug money to vote on things that only benefit themselves once in a while I will continue to complain.

And by the way, France has proven you don't need leeching tax dodgers to have a successful economy.

If it were possible, the Monarchy should have had a kind of pre-nuptial agreement where Their wealth couldn’t be touched by the hordes in later years :|


Sure, as long as the UK public purse has the same clause. People complain about people claiming benefits but not about the old lady who claims the biggest benefit of all. I do hate monachists. They would rather surrender their equality so someone can live the high life on their expense. :roll:
#14859755
Perhaps, you underestimate her role or maybe you don’t care. Either way, just because you don’t understand something doesn’t mean they’re bludging off your nation.

It’s a shame the Monarchy doesn’t articulate their role better. If they did, perhaps the people that benefit the most from the stability they provide wouldn’t be so quick to want to see them grovel.

And don’t presume to know me. I am not a Monarchist. ;)
#14859758
B0ycey wrote:Sure, as long as the UK public purse has the same clause. People complain about people claiming benefits but not about the old lady who claims the biggest benefit of all. I do hate monachists. They would rather surrender their equality so someone can live the high life on their expense. :roll:


Well as they usually point out the Crown Estate produces a profit, not a deficit, so the public is getting paid back. If it were in deficit there'd be public pressure & republican boost, etc.
#14859779
@ness31, if her role is so damn important, explain how it is that other leading nations cope without one.

@redcarpet, I don't buy into that claim. It is speculative figures to somehow justify the cost. But anyway, she can keep her title as long as she keeps her hands in her pockets. Let the monachist have their idol. I just would rather house the poor.
Last edited by B0ycey on 06 Nov 2017 13:06, edited 1 time in total.
#14859781
redcarpet wrote:Well as they usually point out the Crown Estate produces a profit, not a deficit, so the public is getting paid back.

Apple too makes a profit, especially by moving profits to tax havens, just like the Queen. At least Apple produces Iphones. What does the Queen produce?

If it were in deficit there'd be public pressure & republican boost, etc.

Such naivety is touching. If there were a deficit, her majesty's government would find a discrete way of making up the losses with tax payer's money.
#14859804
B0ycey wrote:@ness31, if her roll is so damn important, explain how it is that other leading nations cope without one


Haha, you have no idea how many times I almost made this mistake :lol: Glad it happened to you and not me :lol:

To answer your question B0ycey, I will tell you what and older, much wiser person once told me - “there are some things you just can’t learn on google”.

Even if other leading nations as you put it, don’t have a Queen you can bet your bottom dollar they have a figurehead that has the same function.

The magic question is what, in practicality, is that function? Not just the textbook function you learn at school, no, the real world function that has ensured their longevity so that they can’t just be replaced or overthrown without serious consequences.

I don’t think it’s an enviable position tbh, especially when no one really understands what you do and yet you are still obligated, yes, obligated, to perform for people who begrudge your existence.
#14859880
express.co.uk wrote:JEREMY CORBYN has suggested the Queen should "apologise" after she was today accused of using extraordinary tax-dodging financial arrangements to hide millions in cash.

By REBECCA PERRING
PUBLISHED: 15:24, Mon, Nov 6, 2017 | UPDATED: 15:49, Mon, Nov 6, 2017


The Labour leader said that anyone making offshore investments to avoid tax in Britain should apologise.

Mr Corbyn made the comment when asked if he thought the Queen should apologise for having offshore investments.

He replied: "Anyone that is putting money into tax havens in order to avoid taxation in Britain, and obviously investigations have to take place, should do two things: not just apologise for it but also recognise what it does to our society, because if a very wealthy person wants to avoid taxation in Britain and therefore put money into a tax haven somewhere, who loses?

"Schools, hospitals, housing, all those public services lose and the rest of the population have to pay to cover up the deficit created by that."

"We simply have to challenge the culture that there is something clever about avoiding taxation. Taxation is what gives us ambulances, gives us fire tenders, gives us safety in our lives and we all have a responsibility to pay for it."

A Labour spokesman has said Mr Corbyn's comments were not specifically aimed at the Queen.

They added: "Jeremy did not call for the Queen to apologise but said anyone who puts money into a tax haven to avoid paying tax should, and that they should recognise the damage done by avoidance to society. Labour is calling for a public inquiry into tax avoidance."

Later speaking to Bloomberg Corbyn called for a review of all royal investments.

In an interview with Bloomberg Television in London on Monday, Corbyn said he also wants the royal investments to be looked at.

“There should be a review,” the Labour leader said. "An inquiry into all the revelations about the Paradise Papers.”

Asked if that includes the queen, Corbyn replied: "Everybody. The Royal Household are subject to taxation. I don’t know what has happened in that case. These issues all must be part of that."


Britain’s head of state has been caught up in the scandal of the Paradise Papers - an explosive leak of financial documents laying bare investments in offshore tax havens by the world's rich and powerful.
#14859882
I find it hilarious that people still pretend to be shocked that the rich keep their money in offshore accounts. It amazes me that it is even considered news, since finding a list of Cayman-domiciled hedge funds doesn't really require that much effort.

And, I'd find it much easier to take whiners like @Atlantis seriously if they weren't also rubbing their hands with glee at the prospect of the financial services industry moving to Frankfurt post-Brexit. You do realise that hedge funds, securitisations and the like are deliberately structured to be "tax efficient" whether they're launched in Britain or Germany, right? All it'll mean is that post-2019, you'll have to froth at the mouth over Irish- or Luxembourg-domiciled vehicles rather than Cayman funds. :lol:

(Of course, this won't happen because you are motivated purely by anti-British spite, rather than anything resembling a principle)
#14859908
ness31 wrote:To answer your question B0ycey, I will tell you what and older, much wiser person once told me - “there are some things you just can’t learn on google”.


Perhaps that wise head should have told you that sometimes 'there are some things you can't learn off Google because there is nothing to learn from it'

Even if other leading nations as you put it, don’t have a Queen you can bet your bottom dollar they have a figurehead that has the same function.


Yes, usually elected. Unless they are part of the Commonwealth. Then those leading nations have my sympathy.

The magic question is what, in practicality, is that function? Not just the textbook function you learn at school, no, the real world function that has ensured their longevity so that they can’t just be replaced or overthrown without serious consequences.


There is no function that an elected representive couldn't do. And perhaps do a better job at it as well. I have forgotten the amount of bloopers that have came from Phillips mouth.

I don’t think it’s an enviable position tbh, especially when no one really understands what you do and yet you are still obligated, yes, obligated, to perform for people who begrudge your existence.


If she doesn't like it she should quit. I don't begrudge her personally, just what she represents. I believe in equality for all. The Queen represents religious dictatorship. She isn't democratically elected and has born privilege. But it isn't just her. The Lord's needs binning too.

As for the Royals job, I would rather send a basket of muffins to showcase Britain around the world then Charles and Camilla.

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