Sunday, February 03, 2013

Poacher turned Gamekeeper, turned Poacher again

Unable or unwilling to collect $70 billion in unpaid bills of tax cheats, the Greek government’s turning to higher taxes for those who can’t evade them has pushed property taxes up 600 percent in less than three years.
Hong Kong's free market means we are open to criminals taking advantage of the liberal regime. It is shocking that a young mainlander from Guangdong managed to move in and out a record HK$13.1 billion with a local bank account over a period of eight months since 2009. At a rate of HK$50 million a day ...
Tax evasion ghosts and moonlighters on HMRC prosecution hit list  Ghosts & Moonlighters
A new report from the non-partisan Congressional Research Service (CRS) finds that U.S. corporations report a huge share of their profits as officially earned in small, low-tax countries where they have very little investment and workforce As certain as Tax Haven and Complicated as Machiavellian Hell

When the burglar is unscrewing your window locks, would you pay him a fat fee to clean your windows while he's at it? Yet that's what the government does. Last year these four firms said they earned some £400m from the state, and they help to denude this same state of the tax that pays them. But far worse, the government has invited the burglar in to be consulted on the best kind of locks for the future. Now the old lag is in the pub selling the pin code to the locks to all his burglar friends. Socializing loses the smart avoiders;Tax avoidance like David and Goliath

The Obeid case is sensational in its nature, but not alone in existence. Corruption in Australia is more widespread than you might think. What is important is how it is reported, and how anti-corruption policy is shaped. Media accountability does not fall into the shadows here. More scrutiny must be given to politicians and public officials, but greater accuracy is needed when it comes to understanding corruption.
The old adage ‘blood is thicker than water’ today has been both reinforced and heavily questioned as it is revealed the tight-knit Obeid clan holds a secret $3.4 million stake in Australian Water Holdings.
ICAC public gallery witnessed a masterclass in probing, with his examiner discovering how young MO navigates a vortex MO's of mining, political, land and family interests in the pursuit of profit. MO's trick, it seems, is to move quickly and not worry about the fine print. "I'm not a detail person," he told the hearing, which is examining the circumstances surrounding a 2008 decision to open a mining area in the little-known Bylong Valley for coal exploration. He who must be obeid; references Google on ICAC Examination of Obeid Family business Affairs