Headline Aug 13, 2014/

''' HEY MAN ! : YA TAX-DODGY - 

22 ! OH'' OF YORE ?! '''

The Pakistani nation,  the students of the world, wish to express their gratitude and thanks to:

Mariam, Rabo, Dee, Haleema, Malala, Hussain, Zeba,  Shazaib, Aneela, Salar, Ehsan Khalil, Haider, Aqsa, Paras, Sorat, Anne, Vishnu/India, Ali, Zaeem/Egypt Reza/Canada, Danyial/Canada for their selfless and devoted work.

The students of Pakistan, the students of the world can now  ''''' strut a little taller in the world '''''.    

"Happy Independence Day to Pakistan".

For decades and decades and years, I observed, and now recall, this great country, Pakistan,  just pottered along weighed down by every conceivable problem and wretched dictators: Producing a mired world of its own.

Pakistan and its leaders must reckon that they now need, a super will, and super governance; and a way, to reinvent the future.

And now the Post:-

Miami is a massive offshore banking centre, offering depositors from emerging markets the sort of protection from prying eyes that their home countries can no longer get away with.

In a nut shell, companies divert profits to brass-plate subsidiaries in low-tax Luxembourg, Ireland and the Netherlands.

Reform should thus focus on the  rich-world financial centres as well as Caribbean islands, and should distinguish between illegal activities   -laundering and outright tax evasion-  and legal ones(fancy accounting to avoid tax)

The best weapon against illegal activities is transparency, which boils down to collecting more information and sharing it better. Thanks in large part to America's FACTA, small offshore centres are handling even more data to their clients home-countries-

While America remains  shamefully  reluctant to share information with Latin American countries whose citizens hold deposits in Miami. That must change.

Everyone should do more to crack down on the use of nominee shareholders and directors to hide the provenance of money.

And they should make sure that information about the true  ''beneficial''  owners of the company is collected,  kept-up-to-date and made more readily available to investigators in cases of suspected wrongdoing.

There are costs to openness, but they are outweighed by the benefits of shinning light on the shady corners of finance.

Transparency will also help curb the more aggressive forms of corporate tax avoidance. As Starbucks experience has shown, companies that shift money around to minimise their  tax bills  endanger their reputations. The more information consumers have about such dodges, the better.

Moral pressure is not the whole answer, though: consumers get bored with campaigns, and governments should not bash companies for trying to reduce their tax bills, if they do so legally. In the end:

Tax systems must be reformed. Governments need to make it harder for companies to use internal  (transfer)  pricing to avoid tax. Companies should be made to book activity where it actually takes place.

Several federal economies, including America,  already prevent companies from exploiting the differences between the states' rules. An International agreement along those lines is needed.       

Governments also need to lower corporate tax rates.

Tapping companies is inefficient: firms pass the burden on to others. Better to tax directly those who ultimately pay   -whether owner of capital, workers or consumers.

Nor do corporate taxes raise much: barely more than 2% of GDP (8.5% of tax revenue) in America in  2.7% in Britain. Abolishing corporate  tax would create its own problems:

As it would encourage rich people to turn themselves into companies. 

But a lower rate on a broader base,  combined with  vigilance  by the tax authorities, would be more efficient and would probably raise more revenue:

America, whose companies face one of the rich world's highest corporate-tax rates on their worldwide income, also has some of the most energetic tax-invaders.

Those reforms would not be easy.

Governments that try to lower corporate tax rates will be accused of caving in to black-mailing capitalists.

Financial centres and incorporation hubs, from the city of London to Delaware to Islamabad, will fight any attempt to tighten their rules.

But if politicians really want to tax the missing $26 trillion plus, that's where they should start.

With respectful dedication to the Students, Professors and Teachers of  Pakistan . See Ya all on !WOW!   -the World Students Society Computers-Internet-Wireless:

''' Lower The Tax Rate '''

Good Night and God Bless!

SAM Daily Times - the Voice of the Voiceless