Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Tax Evasion by the numbers: US & global

Amount of assets experts estimate that wealthy Americans have in offshore accounts: $1.6 trillion.
Amount estimated of illegally evaded taxes by US individuals each year by using offshore tax schemes: between $40 and $70 billion.
Amount estimated by the IRS that corporations evade by using offshore tax schemes: $30 billion.
Percentage of offshore tax haven account holders estimated to be engaged in tax evasion by the owner of the bank: 100.
Percentage who are US citizens: 95.
Number of entities established by Enron in the Cayman Islands: 441.
Ratio of land in the Cayman Islands to New York City: 1:3.
Ratio of population in the Cayman Islands to New York City: 1:172.
Percentage of their foreign profits US-based multinational corporations attributed to offshore jurisdictions in 2002: 58.
Amount of their foreign profits attributed to offshore jurisdictions: $150 Billion.
Amount in 1999 attributed to offshore jurisdictions: $88 billion.

Global figures

Total asssets of high net worth individuals (HNWIs): $38 trillion.

Total HNWI assets $trn % held offshore
North America 16.2 less than 10
Europe 10.3 20-30
Asia-Pacfic and Middle East 10.2 Japan < 10, Other Asia 30, Mideast 70
Latin America 1.3 More than 50
World Total 38.0

Amount in assets estimated to be held in offshore accounts by high networth individuals globally: $12 trillion.
Amount of income those offshore assets would generate at a 7.5% rate of return: $860 billion a year.
Amount of tax loss as a result of it being held offshore and evading taxes: $255 billion.
Amount of all global trade estimated to be routed through tax havens: half.
Size of global money-laundering transactions: $640 billion to $1.6 trillion, 2 to 5 percent of global GDP.
Amount paid in bribes each year: over a trillion dollars.

The Developing World

Amount that poorer countries forego in revenues annually, due to tax avoidance and tax evasion: $385 billion.
The relationship of that $385 billion to the OECD countries' official development assistance to the entire world: nearly four times.
Amount of capital flight from Africa from 1970-1996: $274 billion.
Relationship of that figure, with interest, to total debt owed by those countries in 1996: 145%. The amount of money that was stolen or misused by past rulers in Nigeria: around $400 billion.
Relationship of that figure to the amount of foreign aid for the entire continent: about the same.

Source:Tax Justice Network USA

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

People should read this.