14 Best Books on Tax Havens

Small states have learned in recent decades that capital accumulates where taxes are low; as a result, tax havens have increasingly competed for the attention of international investors with tax and regulatory concessions. Economically powerful countries including France, Britain, Japan, and the United States, however, wished to stanch the offshore flow of domestic taxable capital. Since 1998 the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has attempted to impose common tax regulations on more than three dozen small states.

In a fascinating book based on fieldwork and interviews in twenty-two countries in the Caribbean, North America, Europe, and islands in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, J. C. Sharman shows how the struggle was decided in favor of the tax havens, which eventually avoided common regulation. No other book on tax havens is based on such extensive fieldwork, and no other author has had access to so many of the key decision-makers who played roles in the conflict between onshore and offshore

Sharman suggests that microstates succeeded in their struggle with great powers because of their astute deployment of reputation and effective rhetorical self-positioning. In effect, they persuaded a transnational audience that the OECD was being untrue to its own values by engaging in a hypocritical, bullying exercise inimical to free competition.

Inside Swiss Banking provides an insider’s perspective on how Swiss banks work, what legal frameworks guide them and how they navigate through the choppy waters of an increasingly global marketplace. Covering areas reaching from the Holocaust to Ferdinand Marcos and the most recent troubles of UBS in the United States, readers will get a rare level of insight into the many mysteries of Swiss banking, the true meaning of bank secrecy, and the challenges facing the Swiss Banking brand as a new world order is about to transpire in the aftermath of the deepest economic crisis since the Great Depression.

Most people regard tax havens as being relevant only to celebrities, crooks, and spivs, and mistakenly believe that the main offshore problems are money laundering and terrorist financing. These are only small parts of the whole picture. The offshore system has been (discreetly) responsible for the greatest-ever shift of wealth from poor to rich. It also undermines our democracies by offering the wealthiest members of society escape routes from tax, financial regulation, and other normal democratic controls.

Treasure Islands brilliantly articulates the problem in a completely new way and exposes the deep corruption that impacts our daily lives. This is the ugliest chapter in global economic affairs since slavery – and secretive offshore tax havens are at the heart of the trouble.

This is the only book of its kind and The World’s Best Tax Havens is written in clear English with plenty of examples and tax planning tips. You’ll find out all about:

• How tax havens can help you pay less of the four ‘Big Taxes’: income tax, capital gains tax, inheritance tax, and corporation tax.
• The best European tax havens, including one just 80 miles from the UK which has no capital gains tax, inheritance tax, or company tax and is opening its arms to UK residents.
• Changes to the regime for a number of tax havens during 2015
• A Mediterranean tax haven where the property is booming, the cost of living is low and there is no capital gains tax or tax on investment income.
• Two beautiful Mediterranean islands where UK pensions are taxed at just 5% and 15% respectively.
• Everything you need to know about the gorgeous Caribbean tax havens: living there, buying property, and setting up offshore companies and trusts. Countries covered include Anguilla, The Bahamas, Barbados, The British Virgin Islands, The Cayman Islands, St Kitts, and Nevis, and the Turks and Caicos Islands.
• How to become an HMWI and enjoy Gibraltar’s fantastic lifestyle and low taxes.
• A prosperous English-speaking country just one hour from the UK with a company tax rate of just 12.5% and no tax on UK investment income or capital gains.
• The best Eastern European tax havens, from Estonia to Russia.
• Other important tax haven gems scattered around the globe — some of these countries have 0% taxes, dirt-cheap property, and are practically begging you to go and take up what’s on offer.
• How big companies and the rich use tax havens to lower their taxes and keep their wealth strictly private and protected from the outside world.
• And much more…

Filled with in-depth insight and expert advice, Tax Havens Today arms you with the knowledge, strategies, and contacts needed to avoid expensive mistakes and make the most of your offshore endeavors. Divided into four comprehensive parts, this timely resource will bring you completely up to speed on a variety of issues that anyone aspiring to go offshore must be familiar with.

The world has changed forever,- Governments have expanded their reach over their citizens’ lives.- Power is being consolidated by an elite few, and- The world economy has become more volatile and unpredictable. Meanwhile, the internet, a globalizing world economy, and the emergence of the developing world all present opportunities to any businessman or investor willing to make simple changes to their life. Geography is no longer a limitation for those willing to follow Andrew Henderson’s ‘Five Magic Words’ and “Go where you’re treated best.”As the world’s most sought-after expert on offshore tax planning, second passports, and global citizenship – cited by the BBC, Bloomberg, Forbes, CNN, and more – Andrew has condensed the last ten years of his investigative world travel into an unprecedented book to show entrepreneurs and investors another way to live that will enable them to keep more of their own money, live where they want, become citizens of the world, and improve their lives and the planet. Direct. Honest. Experienced. Unapologetic. Practical. Transparent. Even funny. The Nomad Capitalist will show you how to take his “E-K-G” formula to- ENHANCE your personal lifestyle,- KEEP more of your money, and- GROW your money by living, investing, banking, and doing business overseas. From foreign companies to offshore accounts and from overseas investments to dual citizenship, Andrew will introduce you to a life of international proportions, storing gold in super-secret vaults, finding love in exotic locations, and improving everything from your health to your tax bill by simply “going where you’re treated best.”Will this book answer your unique questions about how your business can transfer price IP from Montenegro to Canada using staffing companies and GILTI? No. No book written for the general public can give you a personalized strategy for going offshore. Nor should it. This book is not a substitute for the professional help you need to do everything in the 100% legal way that Andrew promotes. What it will give you is a vision of what’s possible, including second passport opportunities, offshore banking countries to use (and avoid), and specific jurisdictions to consider for business and investment. You will also get a look at the life of the Nomad Capitalist himself and the kind of boots-on-the-ground anecdotes and personal experiences that helped Andrew gain the knowledge he has used to help hundreds of people to go where they are treated best. It is no longer enough to be a digital nomad. Those who want complete freedom from the world’s broken systems must become Nomad Capitalists themselves, learning to navigate the world system to reclaim their freedom and rediscover the possibilities of capitalism’s greatest promises. Get the book to see how.

When Canadians think of tax havens, they rarely think of the US, but it truly is one of the best options available for Canadians today. Using the US as a tax haven will enable you to keep more of what’s rightfully yours — legally! A Canadian’s Best Tax Haven proves it by discussing actual tax situations and comparing taxes paid by a person with exactly the same income living in Canada, the US, and a traditional tax haven. Written by the author of the best-selling cross-border tax book The Border Guide: A Guide to Living, Working, and Investing across the Border, this informative book covers the following: • What is a tax haven? • Why you might want a tax haven • Why traditional tax havens don’t work • What some of the prevalent myths about tax havens are and what the truth is • Hidden costs of tax havens • The US-Canada Tax Treaty • And more! This book shows you how to take advantage of tax haven strategies available to Canadians, easily and legally, and reduce your taxes payable. A Canadian’s Best Tax Haven doles out indispensable advice that will help you keep more of what you earn, just by driving across the border and following a few simple rules!

An ever-increasing number of Americans are convinced that our country is no longer the land of safety or opportunity when it comes to their money and investments. These people recommend transferring your money to offshore tax havens in such countries as Dubai, Hong Kong, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and Panama. In fact, it has recently been estimated that nearly 60 percent of the world s money is located in offshore accounts. Legal Off-Shore Tax Havens will show you how to protect your money and remain legal while doing so. Offshore tax havens are sovereign nations that have laws in place that protect people s financial privacy, assets, and cash. In this new, exhaustively researched book, you will find out how to take advantage of this system. You will learn how the system works, how to develop business opportunities, how to avoid excessive taxation and regulation, how to bank and invest offshore, how to find the tax haven that is right for you, and how to avoid scams. In addition, you will learn about the safest, most private nations, the best offshore banks, and tax havens, what is and what is not legal, the best haven for your specific purposes, mistakes to avoid, legal issues, and basic offshore entities. You will also learn how sophisticated tax avoiders use countries such as Ireland, Austria, and the Netherlands to avoid suspicion; how to use residential tax havens, including Argentina and Costa Rica; and how to use Greece, the Philippines, and Jordan as completely tax-free havens. Legal Off-Shore Tax Havens will provide you with the strategies, knowledge, and contacts you need to avoid expensive mistakes and make the most of your offshore pursuits. This book is for those who are wary of paying high taxes and who are suspicious of the government. Whether you are seeking to move your business s money or your own personal finance, this book will provide you with all the necessary information to make a smooth, legal transition

Late one evening investigative journalist Bastian Obermayer receives an anonymous message offering him access to secret data. Through encrypted channels, he then receives documents showing a mysterious bank transfer for $500 million in gold. This is just the beginning.

Obermayer and fellow Süddeutsche Zeitung journalist Frederik Obermaier find themselves immersed in a secret world where complex networks of shell companies help to hide people who don’t want to be found. Faced with the largest data leak in history, they activate an international network of journalists to follow every possible line of inquiry.

Operating for over a year in the strictest secrecy, they uncover a global elite living by a different set of rules: prime ministers, dictators, oligarchs, princelings, sports officials, big banks, arms smugglers, Mafiosi, diamond miners, art dealers, and celebrities. The real-life thriller behind the story of the century, The Panama Papers is an intense, pause-resisting account that blows their secret worldwide open.

n Canada: A New Tax Haven, Alain Deneault traces Canada’s relationship with Commonwealth Caribbean nations back through the last half of the twentieth century, arguing that the involvement of Canadian financiers in establishing and maintaining Caribbean tax havens has predisposed Canada to become a tax haven itself – a metamorphosis well underway.

Canada was linked to Caribbean nations long before they became tax-havens. In the 1950s, an ex-governor of Canada’s central bank attempted to establish a low taxation regime in Jamaica. In the 1960s, the transformation of the Bahamas into a tax haven characterized by impenetrable banking secrecy was shaped by a minister of finance who sat on the Royal Bank of Canada’s board of directors. A Calgary lawyer and former Conservative Party heavyweight drew up the clauses that transformed the Cayman Islands into an opaque offshore jurisdiction. For years, Canadian politicians have debated annexing tax havens such as the Turks and Caicos Islands, making them part of Canadian territory. Canada has signed a free-trade agreement with Panama and is currently seeking a wider agreement with countries in CARICOM, the Caribbean economic community. And, notably, Canada currently shares its seat at the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund with a group of Caribbean tax havens.

These exercises in fostering fiscal and banking leniency have predisposed Canada to become one of the most attractive tax havens to foreign interests. Not only does Canada offer one of the lowest corporate tax rates in the world, but a number of loopholes encourage companies to relocate to Canada as if it were Barbados or Bermuda.

ax Havens of the World (8th edition/2003) covers all the major havens, including the Caymans, Bahamas, Bermuda, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Singapore, etc. The author has over 18 years of reading and writing about tax havens and the US Tax Code that covers their use and abuse. Learn how non-resident aliens trade NYSE stocks, bonds, options, and commodities – TAX-FREE -legally – offshore like thousands of offshore banks and companies (IBCs) do!

Avoid federal income and estate taxes with the latest “trend” – the foreign offshore estate. US (domestic) estates – even with the repeal of the federal estate tax after 2010 – will still be subjected to federal income and gift taxes, as well as State income, inheritance, and estate taxes too! See page 254 of this edition.

The Bahamas, the Cayman Islands, Anguilla, and Bermuda have no personal income taxes, no corporate income taxes, no capital gains taxes, no withholding taxes, no estate, gift, or inheritance taxes, no sales taxes, no employment taxes, no death duties, and no probate fees. Guarantees against future taxes are provided by these governments for periods up to 50 years. Exempt trusts can receive a guarantee of up to 100 years.