Breaking Bad: What Does the First Major Tax Haven Leak Tell Us?

8 Pages Posted: 9 Sep 2016

Date Written: Augst 22, 2016

Abstract

While there is now significant literature in law, politics, economics, and other disciplines that examines tax havens, there is little information on what tax haven intermediaries — so-called offshore service providers such as trust, finance and other financial service providers — actually do to facilitate offshore tax evasion and other global financial crimes. To provide insight into this secret world of tax havens, this article relies on the author’s study of the first major tax haven data leak obtained by the International Consortium for Investigative Journalists. A hypothetical involving Breaking Bad’s Walter White is used to explain how offshore service providers help non-resident investors engage in offshore tax evasion.

Keywords: Tax Haven, Offshore Tax Evasion, International Money Laundering, Offshore Service Provider

JEL Classification: F30, F38, H20, H26, K00, K34

Suggested Citation

Cockfield, Arthur, Breaking Bad: What Does the First Major Tax Haven Leak Tell Us? (Augst 22, 2016). Tax Notes International, Vol. 83(8), p. 691, 2016, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2835652

Arthur Cockfield (Contact Author)

Queen's University - Faculty of Law ( email )

Macdonald Hall
Kingston, Ontario K7L 3N6 K7L3N6
Canada

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