Saturday, May 27, 2023
No Result
View All Result
  • Media
Support Us
Macdonald-Laurier Institute
  • Home
  • About
    • Who We Are
    • Who Makes MLI Work
    • Tenth Anniversary
  • Experts
    • Experts Directory
    • In Memoriam
  • Issues
    • Domestic Policy Program
      • Agriculture and Agri-Food
      • Canada’s Political Tradition
      • Economic policy
      • Health Care
      • Innovation
      • Justice
      • Social issues
      • Telecoms
    • Energy Policy Program
      • Energy
      • Environment
    • Foreign Policy Program
      • Foreign Affairs
      • National Defence
      • National Security
    • Indigenous Affairs Program
  • Projects
    • The Great Energy Crisis
    • Centre for Advancing Canada’s Interests Abroad
    • Dragon at the Door
    • The Eavesdropping Dragon: Huawei
    • Canada and the Indo-Pacific Initiative
    • The Transatlantic Program
    • DisInfoWatch.org
    • An Intellectual Property Strategy for Canada
    • Competition Policy in Canada
    • Speak for Ourselves
    • Justice Report Card
    • COVID Misery Index
      • Provincial COVID Misery Index
      • Beyond Lockdown
      • COVID and after: A mandate for recovery
    • Indigenous Prosperity at a Crossroads
      • Aboriginal Canada and Natural Resources
    • Past Projects
      • Talkin’ in the Free World with Mariam Memarsadeghi
      • Munk Senior Fellows
      • A Mandate for Canada
      • Confederation Series
      • Fiscal Reform
      • The Canadian Century project
      • Fixing Canadian health care
      • Internal trade
      • From a mandate for change
      • Size of government in Canada
      • Straight Talk
      • Labour Market Report
      • Leading Economic Indicator
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Past Events
      • MLI Dinners
      • Great Canadian Debates
  • Latest News
  • Libraries
    • Inside Policy Magazine
      • Inside Policy Online
      • Inside Policy Back Issues
    • Papers
    • Commentary
    • Columns
    • Books
    • Video
    • Podcasts
  • Home
  • About
    • Who We Are
    • Who Makes MLI Work
    • Tenth Anniversary
  • Experts
    • Experts Directory
    • In Memoriam
  • Issues
    • Domestic Policy Program
      • Agriculture and Agri-Food
      • Canada’s Political Tradition
      • Economic policy
      • Health Care
      • Innovation
      • Justice
      • Social issues
      • Telecoms
    • Energy Policy Program
      • Energy
      • Environment
    • Foreign Policy Program
      • Foreign Affairs
      • National Defence
      • National Security
    • Indigenous Affairs Program
  • Projects
    • The Great Energy Crisis
    • Centre for Advancing Canada’s Interests Abroad
    • Dragon at the Door
    • The Eavesdropping Dragon: Huawei
    • Canada and the Indo-Pacific Initiative
    • The Transatlantic Program
    • DisInfoWatch.org
    • An Intellectual Property Strategy for Canada
    • Competition Policy in Canada
    • Speak for Ourselves
    • Justice Report Card
    • COVID Misery Index
      • Provincial COVID Misery Index
      • Beyond Lockdown
      • COVID and after: A mandate for recovery
    • Indigenous Prosperity at a Crossroads
      • Aboriginal Canada and Natural Resources
    • Past Projects
      • Talkin’ in the Free World with Mariam Memarsadeghi
      • Munk Senior Fellows
      • A Mandate for Canada
      • Confederation Series
      • Fiscal Reform
      • The Canadian Century project
      • Fixing Canadian health care
      • Internal trade
      • From a mandate for change
      • Size of government in Canada
      • Straight Talk
      • Labour Market Report
      • Leading Economic Indicator
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Past Events
      • MLI Dinners
      • Great Canadian Debates
  • Latest News
  • Libraries
    • Inside Policy Magazine
      • Inside Policy Online
      • Inside Policy Back Issues
    • Papers
    • Commentary
    • Columns
    • Books
    • Video
    • Podcasts
No Result
View All Result
Macdonald-Laurier Institute

Parallel world for the very rich and the very corrupt hurts honest taxpayers: New MLI Commentary by Arthur Cockfield

November 19, 2021
in Commentary, Domestic Policy Program, Economic policy, Issues, Latest News, Library, Releases
Reading Time: 3 mins read
A A

OTTAWA, ON (November 19, 2021): The Pandora Papers, a massive tax haven data leak, revealed how wealthy elites are able to exploit lower tax rates abroad to avoid paying taxes at home. In a new MLI commentary titled “Pandora Papers reveal parallel financial world for the wealthy,” author Arthur Cockfield focuses on the offshore world’s role in enhancing the wealth of the very rich or very corrupt, and how this practice works to the detriment of average citizens around the world.

As Cockfield notes, the Pandora Papers reveal three primary beneficiaries from the offshore world: criminals, millionaires, and multinational corporations.

Wealthy criminals use the offshore world to anonymize their financial misdeeds. Moreover, in low-income countries, the offshore world aids and abets criminals in draining governments of valuable resources while citizens languish in dire conditions. Millionaires, according to Cockfield, leverage the offshore world to legally reduce their tax bills, exploiting loopholes not available to ordinary income taxpayers. Finally, multinational corporations set up shell companies in tax havens to legally reduce global tax liabilities, providing higher returns for wealthier shareholders.

This continued tax evasion with impunity, alongside stagnated middle-class incomes, could fan the flames of anti-democratic sentiment. As Cockfield warns, “in some countries, grow­ing income inequality is encouraging unhealthy forms of populism, national­ism, nativism and anti-immigrant sentiment – all of which can lead to anti-democratic outcomes.”

To address the challenges presented by tax havens, the federal government has budgeted over $1 billion to help the Canadian Revenue Agency (CRA) enforce its tax laws around offshore tax evasion and aggressive international tax planning. However, as the author notes, this is undermined by Canada’s poor record on prosecuting offshore tax cheats; the failure to hold those accountable could result in an erosion in taxpayer morale, leading to a reduction in tax compliance and tax revenues.

On the international stage, Canada has joined other governments in attempting to make the global tax system more transparent. Recently, Ottawa signed onto an international agreement to implement a minimum 15 percent corporate income tax rate on foreign profits, as well as a second agreement to target large technology firms with global annual sales of over €750 million. But these global agreements may falter if governments cannot agree on detailed rules to implement the frameworks.

As the author notes, governments presumably did not purposefully create a paradise for crimi­nals. However, we have tried to inhibit criminal behaviour to little effect for decades. To curb tax evasion, it will take political commitment, resources, and government willingness to be held ac­countable for outcomes. Ultimately though, the costs of failing to curb tax evasion are far greater than the costs of implementing a more effective approach.

“In an era where gov­ernments are increasingly worried about the anti-democratic costs associated with growing income inequality, now is the time to take action,” urges Cockfield.

To read the full commentary, click on the button below.

***

Arthur Cockfield is a Professor and Associate Dean (Academic) with Queen’s University Faculty of Law. He is a member of the Offshore Compliance Advisory Committee, a federal government committee formed to evaluate Canada’s ties to the offshore world.

 For more information, media are invited to contact:

Brett Byers
Communications and Digital Media Manager
613-482-8327 x105
brett.byers@macdonaldlaurier.ca

 

Tags: Arthur Cockfieldtax policytaxation
Previous Post

Did the Biden-Xi virtual summit accomplish anything? Stephen Nagy in the Japan Times

Next Post

Why the US needs to reset its approach to the conflict in Ethiopia: Yonas Biru for Inside Policy

Related Posts

Inquiry or not, foreign interference in Canada’s elections is part of a new Cold War that we cannot hide from: Brian Lee Crowley in the Globe and Mail
Columns

Inquiry or not, foreign interference in Canada’s elections is part of a new Cold War that we cannot hide from: Brian Lee Crowley in the Globe and Mail

May 27, 2023
Don’t blame Indigenous people for Calgary cancelling July 1st fireworks: Melissa Mbarki in the National Post
Columns

Don’t blame Indigenous people for Calgary cancelling July 1st fireworks: Melissa Mbarki in the National Post

May 25, 2023
Canada Must Recognize Iran’s Role in Gaza Terror: Tzvi Kahn for Inside Policy
Inside Policy

Canada Must Recognize Iran’s Role in Gaza Terror: Tzvi Kahn for Inside Policy

May 25, 2023
Next Post
Why the US needs to reset its approach to the conflict in Ethiopia: Yonas Biru for Inside Policy

Why the US needs to reset its approach to the conflict in Ethiopia: Yonas Biru for Inside Policy

Newsletter Signup

Follow us on

Macdonald-Laurier Institute

323 Chapel Street, Suite #300
Ottawa, Ontario, K1N 7Z2 Canada

613.482.8327

info@macdonaldlaurier.ca
MLI directory

Support Us

Support the Macdonald-Laurier Institute to help ensure that Canada is one of the best governed countries in the world. Click below to learn more or become a sponsor.

Support Us

  • Inside Policy Magazine
  • Annual Reports
  • Jobs
  • Privacy Policy

© 2021 Macdonald-Laurier Institute. All Rights reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • About
    • Who We Are
    • Who Makes MLI Work
    • Tenth Anniversary
  • Experts
    • Experts Directory
    • In Memoriam
  • Issues
    • Domestic Policy Program
      • Agriculture and Agri-Food
      • Canada’s Political Tradition
      • Economic policy
      • Health Care
      • Innovation
      • Justice
      • Social issues
      • Telecoms
    • Energy Policy Program
      • Energy
      • Environment
    • Foreign Policy Program
      • Foreign Affairs
      • National Defence
      • National Security
    • Indigenous Affairs Program
  • Projects
    • The Great Energy Crisis
    • Centre for Advancing Canada’s Interests Abroad
    • Dragon at the Door
    • The Eavesdropping Dragon: Huawei
    • Canada and the Indo-Pacific Initiative
    • The Transatlantic Program
    • DisInfoWatch.org
    • An Intellectual Property Strategy for Canada
    • Competition Policy in Canada
    • Speak for Ourselves
    • Justice Report Card
    • COVID Misery Index
      • Provincial COVID Misery Index
      • Beyond Lockdown
      • COVID and after: A mandate for recovery
    • Indigenous Prosperity at a Crossroads
      • Aboriginal Canada and Natural Resources
    • Past Projects
      • Talkin’ in the Free World with Mariam Memarsadeghi
      • Munk Senior Fellows
      • A Mandate for Canada
      • Confederation Series
      • Fiscal Reform
      • The Canadian Century project
      • Fixing Canadian health care
      • Internal trade
      • From a mandate for change
      • Size of government in Canada
      • Straight Talk
      • Labour Market Report
      • Leading Economic Indicator
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Past Events
      • MLI Dinners
      • Great Canadian Debates
  • Latest News
  • Libraries
    • Inside Policy Magazine
      • Inside Policy Online
      • Inside Policy Back Issues
    • Papers
    • Commentary
    • Columns
    • Books
    • Video
    • Podcasts

© 2021 Macdonald-Laurier Institute. All Rights reserved.