Treasure islands
by Nicholas Shaxson · first published 2011
77% recommend23% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Accessible, eye-opening layperson's primer on how tax havens work, from corporate profit shifting to the City of London and Britain's overseas territories; gripping if disheartening, even for finance people.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
"We are witnessing the greatest shift of wealth from poor to rich in history. In the United States alone, the wealthiest avoid paying an astonishing $53 billion in taxes each year. Nicholas Shaxson, in league with the Tax Justice Network, dives deep into the secret world of tax havens and takes us to hot spots from Switzerland to Panama to Delaware in a riveting narrative of how society loses through illegal tax evasion. With jaw-dropping stories and vivid explanations, Shaxson highlights the biggest players in the game, and shows how: - More than 12,750 foreign corporations get out of paying
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…to sit opposite the speaker - the wonderfully named Remembrancer. [Edit: For some highly entertaining, if slightly paranoid, ranting about the City and the evils of offshore finance I can recommend "Treasure Islands" by Nicholas Shaxson - http://treasureislands.org/]
on “Why the Raspberry Pi will save the UK” ↗Anyone interested in learning more about how tax avoidance and havens work as well as large company 'best-practices' might be interested in reading Treasure Islands by Nicholas Shaxson. Book site: http://treasureislands.org Amazon: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Treasure-Islands-Havens-Stole-World/... Disclaimer: There's a referral code in the Amazon link for my college's…
on “Microsoft owes Denmark $1B in taxes” ↗…corporates, especially financial companies, have very extensive means to ensure minimal or even, in some cases, no tax is ever paid. A preliminary and revealing book on this issue for laymen is Shaxon's "Treasure Islands" (http://www.amazon.com/Treasure-Islands-Uncovering-Offshore-B...).
on “Amber Waves of Green” ↗I wonder where they got this information trove from? Also, I highly recommend the book Treasure Islands by Nicholas Shaxson (http://www.amazon.com/Treasure-Islands-Uncovering-Offshore-B...) to understand the enormity of the problem and its historical context (yes, the growth in activity is easily traced).
on “Secret Files Expose Offshore’s Global Impact” ↗If you want a good primer on our influence/investment in the financial affairs of overseas dependencies and tax havens associated with Britain etc... then the book "Treasure Islands" by Nicholas Shaxson is a good place to start.
on “Panama Papers: Mossack Fonseca leak reveals elite's tax havens” ↗…insidious ways that system has integrated itself into the "legitimate" global financial system. I'm not an expert on the topic but I found the book hard to put down. edit: The book: https://smile.amazon.com/Treasure-Islands-Uncovering-Offshor...
on “City of London: Tax haven in the heart of Britain (2011)” ↗…which basically means almost all non-SME corporates these days. There's a very good book on the subject, which is pretty shocking even if you work in finance (but not offshore tax accountancy or law): "Treasure Islands: Tax Havens and the Men Who Stole the World" http://www.amazon.com/Treasure-Islands-Havens-Stole-World/dp...
on “The Tax Haven That's Saving Google Billions” ↗If there's one book I'd recommend on the subject of Tax Havens, Tax Avoidance, Tax Evasion it's this: "Treasure Islands, Tax Havens and the men who stole the world" by Nicholas Shaxson http://treasureislands.org/ Really, an eye opening fascinating read.
on “Google insider exposes ‘immoral’ tax scam” ↗For those who'd like to know more about Tax Havens, how corporations use them and the effect they have, I can thoroughly recommend Nicholas Shaxon's book, Treasure Islands [1]. For example, I never really considered why all my Amazon purchases mention Luxembourg. [1] http://www.amazon.com/Treasure-Islands-Uncovering-Offshore-B... (Disclaimer: That's an affiliate link…
on “US blocks crackdown on tax avoidance by net firms like Google and Amazon” ↗May I recommend the book "Treasure Islands" by Nicholas Shaxson. http://treasureislands.org/ A brilliant read if one that might make you slightly angry about the system!
on “To reduce its tax burden, Google expands use of the “Double Irish”” ↗…this world in popular non-fiction: Emergency by Neil Strauss. An excellent book if you want to know more about secrecy jurisdictions, state regulatory capture, the basics of transfer pricing, etc. is Treasure Islands by Nick Shaxson (http://treasureislands.org/).
on “Dawn of Autonomous Corporations, Powered by Bitcoin” ↗…more about how tax havens work. Especially, about the process of 'capturing the state'. If anyone would like to read more about Tax Havens (aka Secrecy Jurisdictions) I thoroughly recommend the book Treasure Islands by Nicholas Shaxson [1]. (Disclosure: that's an affiliate link for my college's library). [1] http://www.amazon.co.uk/Treasure-Islands-Havens-Stole-World/...
on “US tech firms make eleventh-hour attempt to halt tax avoidance reforms” ↗Yip - may I recommend "Treasure Islands" : http://www.amazon.com/Treasure-Islands-Uncovering-Offshore-B... Really really interesting, and quite disheartening.
on “Map the Banks” ↗Not really a secret, as I have done in a number of threads on the subject, I would recommend checking out the book "Treasure Islands" by Nicholas Shaxson. It basically shows how the UK is involved in international tax affairs.
on “Dark money: London’s dirty secret” ↗…for people in other countries, and the City of London is the center of a whole network of tax havens. It's not just remote islands looking for a way to scrape by. A great book on how it all works is Treasure Islands by Nicholas Shaxson.
on “How Puerto Rico Became a Tax Haven for the Super Rich” ↗