Levin Can Bite Me Regardless

Old post, but still very relevant. Levin and his pro-tax Nazi's need to realize that offshore doesn't mean illegal. But, I still think they're closing these loopholes to trap American currency during the inevitable oncoming meltdown.
Take That Senator Levin: Tax Havens Are Good!
I am not certain whether the timing was intentional, but Joanne Ramos writing in The Economist (Feb. 23), has crafted an excellent response to U.S. Senator Carl Levin (D-MI).
Senator Levin is the same zealous senator I wrote about in yesterday's A-Letter. He's also the author of what he calls "The Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act," S.681, legislation he has just introduced in the U.S. Senate. It is titled: "A bill to restrict the use of offshore tax havens and abusive tax shelters to inappropriately avoid Federal taxation." The faulty premise of Levin's bill is that all offshore financial activity involves tax evasion.
Ms. Ramos puts together some interesting statistics. For example, between 1982 and 2003, "offshore financial centers" (OFCs)" as she calls them, grew at an annual average rate per person of 2.8%, over twice as fast as the world as a whole (1.2%). Offshore holdings now run to US$5 trillion-US$7 trillion, five times as much as two decades ago, and make up perhaps 6-8% of worldwide wealth under management.
She also notes the views of our adversaries at the so-called "Tax Justice Network," a leftist group that claims that global tax revenues lost to OFCs exceed US$255 billion a year. However, she remarks that not everybody believes that. (Certainly we don't!) She also notes that when it comes to dirty money, OFCs argue that this has changed and their supervision is now at least as good as onshore nations, and quite often better.
Notwithstanding the possible loss of some tax revenues to major high tax nations, the author believes that "the best of them are more than tax havens: they are good for the global financial system." Says she: "What they offer foreign businesses and well-heeled individuals is low or no taxes, political stability, business-friendly regulation and laws, and above all discretion." And that's not all bad, she firmly concludes.
We certainly agree with her overall conclusion about the state of tax havens today: "Although international initiatives aimed at reducing financial crime are welcome, the broader concern over OFCs is overblown. Well run jurisdictions of all sorts, whether nominally on or offshore, are good for the global financial system."
To which we add a hearty, Amen!