cross-posted from: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/31857980

Every year, countries lose $492bn in tax a year to multinational corporations and wealthy individuals using tax havens to underpay tax, says the Tax Justice Network. Two-thirds of these losses, or $347.6bn, are attributable to tomultinational corporations shifting profit offshore to underpay tax. The remaining $144.8bn is due to “wealthy individuals hiding their wealth offshore.”

Almost half of these losses come from eight countries that oppose the adoption of a tax treaty under the aegis of the UN: Australia, Canada, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, the United Kingdom and the United States, says the report. These “harmful eight,” according to the Tax Justice Network, cost the world $212bn in lost tax revenue every year.

Biggest contributors to tax havens and financial secrecy

Share of total global inflicted tax loss.

	Country	%
1	Cayman Islands	9.19%
2	Hong Kong	9.18%
3	Ireland	8.30%
4	United States	7.61%
5	Canada	6.34%
6	Singapore	5.90%
7	United Kingdom	4.76%
8	Gibraltar	4.49%
9	Switzerland	4.22%
10	Luxembourg	3.49%