Taxing across Borders: Tracking Personal Wealth and Corporate Profits

Gabriel Zucman

Journal of Economic Perspectives, 2014, vol. 28, issue 4, 121-48

Abstract: This article attempts to estimate the magnitude of corporate tax avoidance and personal tax evasion through offshore tax havens. US corporations book 20 percent of their profits in tax havens, a tenfold increase since the 1980; their effective tax rate has declined from 30 to 20 percent over the last 15 years, and about two-thirds of this decline can be attributed to increased international tax avoidance. Globally, 8 percent of the world's personal financial wealth is held offshore, costing more than $200 billion to governments every year. Despite ambitious policy initiatives, profit shifting to tax havens and offshore wealth are rising. I discuss the recent proposals made to address these issues, and I argue that the main objective should be to create a world financial registry.

JEL-codes: D31 H25 H26 L25 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
Note: DOI: 10.1257/jep.28.4.121
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (271)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Taxing across borders: tracking personal wealth and corporate profits (2014)
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