TROUBLE IN PARADISE
Last week 13.4 million leaked documents, exposing the complex ways in which the rich and powerful avoid paying their taxes, were published. These so-called “Paradise Papers” have revealed a whole bunch of people responsible for hiding their money in zero-tax remote islands or foreign countries, and the list includes a host of familiar politicians, movie stars, successful athletes, and yes, the Queen.
This isn’t the first time this kind of information has leaked, and it won’t stop here, but what makes this situation particularly interesting is that these documents don’t explicitly prove any incriminating actions.
That’s where this gets interesting; the outrage caused by this ordeal is based off moral and ethical obligations, rather than questions over its legality. It’s true that some of the leaked information has led to investigations into the companies managing these transactions, but the main concern still lies in the question: Is this fair? If there is nothing illegal about moving one’s money to a haven to avoid high taxes, then can we even be mad that these people are taking advantage of the opportunity to do so?
The answer is no, it’s not fair. Taxes are in place for a reason, and if you don’t believe in paying them, fine, then move to some uncharted jungle and live in a tree where the taxman can’t reach you, instead of taking advantage of our civilized system and its people.
Due to the ambiguous nature of the situation, is there anything the government could do to prevent tax evasion of this kind? Probably not, if the wealthy don’t want to pay their share of taxes, it’s unlikely they’ll let anything or anyone make them do otherwise.
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