$20 trillion hidden in tax havens: report

23 Jul 2012, 7:19 am   -   Source: AAP
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(File: Getty)

(File: Getty)

A report says $20 trillion worth of assets have been stashed in offshore tax havens, equivalent to the combined GDPs of the United States and Japan.

The world's wealthiest individuals have stashed $US21 trillion ($A20 trillion) worth of assets in offshore tax havens, equivalent to the combined GDPs of the United States and Japan, a tax-transparency report says.

The report commissioned by campaign group Tax Justice Network drew data from a wide range of sources including the Bank of International Settlements and the International Monetary Fund.

Report author James Henry, former chief economist at consultancy McKinsey, said the headline figure was conservative, adding that up to $US32 trillion may have found its way into havens such as the Cayman Islands and Switzerland.

According to Henry, these assets are "protected by a highly paid, industrious bevy of professional enablers in the private banking, legal, accounting and investment industries taking advantage of the increasingly borderless, frictionless global economy".

The top 10 private banks managed more than $US6 trillion in 2010, up from $US2.3 trillion five years earlier, the report found.

Tax expert and British government adviser John Whiting said he was doubtful of the figure.

"There clearly are some significant amounts hidden away, but if it really is that size, what is being done with it all?" he asked.

The Tax Justice Network campaigns for tax transparency and against tax havens.

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Your Comments

Perspective

Deana - from Melbourne, 10 months ago

To put this into perspective, if you earn't a Million dollars since the birth of Christ till today, you would have only just gotten over half of 1 trillion dollars. The rich make the rules, they choke us through the fractional reserve banking ponzi scheme, and they will leave us to rot unless we break away and create something new, something without greed required at the core.

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