the.com/tax haven
a country that sells you the one thing your own government won't: silence.
means a jurisdiction with low or zero taxes and strict secrecy that lets people and companies park money legally out of reach of their home tax authority.
from the term sharpened after WWI when nations raced to fund war debts with higher taxes, and small states like switzerland realized secrecy plus low rates could be exported as a national industry; the OECD formalized the blacklist concept in the late 1990s.
biggest loserUS and EU lose most corporate tax to havens
tiny footprintcayman islands host trillions in shell assets
legal not illegalavoidance is legal, evasion is the crime
panama papers2016 leak exposed 11 million secret documents
for instance
cayman islands — zero corporate tax, home to over 100,000 registered companies
ireland — 12.5% rate lured apple, google, facebook headquarters
luxembourg — tiny nation, over $5 trillion in fund assets parked
switzerland — banking secrecy law dates back to 1934