TAX HAVENS
BRIAN KANTOR: Why companies should not be taxed
The ideal way to compete with tax havens is to eliminate the company tax system, writes Brian Kantor
The leaked "Paradise Papers" reveal how global companies minimise their tax payments by (legally) routing revenue and taxable earnings through low-tax or no-tax jurisdictions. Such disclosures should not be a surprise given the differences in company tax rates and tax systems across tax regimes that influence corporate actions. The obvious solution to this reality is not to tax companies at all. Rather to tax all the income generated by business operations for their many dependants where they reside at the personal income rate. The highly income-taxed may still decide to live in Monaco, the Bahamas or Mauritius — a freedom they should not be denied and where they may well be subject to high expenditure and property taxes. The owners of businesses can be taxed on the dividends received and the wealth (capital) gains realised, and unrealised gains generated for them. Their lenders can all be taxed on the interest received from business borrowers. All landlords including institutional ...
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