Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- Preface
- List of abbreviations
- PART I The past
- PART II The present
- PART III The future
- 13 Some problems ‘Offshore’
- 14 Some problems ‘Onshore’
- 15 Small islands and ‘Offshore’
- 16 Some information on particular centres
- 17 The UK and ‘Offshore’
- 18 The USA and ‘Offshore’
- 19 Can the problems be identified?
- 20 Offshore's Future
- 21 How to assess an ‘Offshore Finance Centre’
- 22 Conclusion
- Appendix 1
- Appendix 2
- Index
22 - Conclusion
from PART III - The future
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 August 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- Preface
- List of abbreviations
- PART I The past
- PART II The present
- PART III The future
- 13 Some problems ‘Offshore’
- 14 Some problems ‘Onshore’
- 15 Small islands and ‘Offshore’
- 16 Some information on particular centres
- 17 The UK and ‘Offshore’
- 18 The USA and ‘Offshore’
- 19 Can the problems be identified?
- 20 Offshore's Future
- 21 How to assess an ‘Offshore Finance Centre’
- 22 Conclusion
- Appendix 1
- Appendix 2
- Index
Summary
The most important lesson to be learnt is that high ethical and professional standards must always be put before commercial advantage.
A thumbnail sketch
The primary objective of this book is to provide information about the ‘Offshore’ environment. In doing so, an attempt has been made to describe the origins of ‘Offshore’, to place it in context and to define some terms that are considered relevant. However, since ‘Offshore’ does not exist in a vacuum, the text includes reference to other environments – alongside which ‘Offshore’ operates – including the ‘Onshore’ environment. Comparisons were made between ‘Offshore’ and jurisdictions, which, while not ordinarily referred to as OFCs, nevertheless offer similar services. Whether ‘Offshore’ or ‘Onshore’, the text identified taxation as one of the most significant factors in giving any finance centre a raison d'être.
Since taxation is a major component in economic global enterprise, so also is tax mitigation – and this explains why many financial centres benefit from being used by taxpayers (ranging from individuals to multinational companies) as components in tax mitigation strategies. No one is obliged to pay more tax than is due. Consequently, taxpayers are entitled to use finance centres to mitigate their tax if they so choose. Taxpayers are not entitled to evade tax. Perfect positive correlation between ‘Offshore’ finance centres and the evasion of tax has not been proved beyond reasonable doubt.
- Type
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- Information
- Offshore Finance , pp. 479 - 490Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2006