Microwave Schematic Diagrams

Man and Little Boy / Francisco de la Torre Díaz *

As that the economic crisis moves forward in time, we forget their beginnings and their causes while trying to find outlets that are increasingly more distant. At the beginning of the crisis, some governments raised the possibility of correcting the most obvious problems and injustices of our economic system. The best example is the tax havens, which became identified as the cause of the financial crisis. Now it looks as if, suddenly, none of this existed.

This issue seems to have been forgotten with the two priorities of most governments: to reduce the public deficit and restructure the financial system. It is obvious that states can not spend beyond their earnings indefinitely and that financial systems are essential for the proper functioning of the economy. However, these objectives need not conflict with the fight against abuse of tax havens.

Let's start by pointing out the obvious: tax havens have very few taxes and compete to attract foreign capital. The use of tax havens and other areas of privileged taxation harms the public finances and forced to raise taxes on those who do not have access to these territories. At this time, not just a problem of justice, some privileged and unsupportive of great economic power does not pay for public services they use, but also is a serious revenue adequacy.

Still, the fundamental problem of tax havens is that they are creators of shadows: the financial system operates with almost total opacity, the result of the combination of an armored bank secrecy and cooperation with other states to nil. As it does not escape the reader, this darkness facilitates tax evasion, compounding the problem of unfair tax competition havens performed with low taxes.

Darkness is not just preventing the Treasury, has also been and is impunity. Many crimes, the vast majority, are committed for money. The most effective way to pursue is to follow the money trail. In fact, the most important advance in the fight against economic crime is the establishment of the crime of money laundering, which involves using the financial system to reintroduce funds coming from the offense, passing them off as legally obtained money. This whole scheme falls apart as soon as a tax haven and you can not trace the money, not always has a legal origin. The issue is important because the UN and the World Bank estimate that the cross-border exchange of funds linked to corruption, organized crime and tax fraud amounting to between 1 and 1.6 trillion dollars. Most are made through tax havens.

is no coincidence that the third world dictators, mobsters from all walks, arms dealers and the big beneficiaries of major corruption cases have your money safe haven tax. Consequently, the fight against havens tax is not only the fight against tax fraud and more radical injustice in the distribution of public burdens, but fundamentally it is the struggle against all forms of economic crime, to avoid their authors to profit from the benefit of their crimes.

The fight against the use of tax havens is a key element in the fight against tax fraud and, therefore, helps tax collection and the fight against the deficit, needs no further explained. Another issue that may not be so obvious is that to reform the financial system is necessary for part of it does not work without rules and absolute opacity. Consequently, for the start of the crisis is very desirable to limit the role played by the creators of shadows in the financial system and international tax.

As the problem of tax havens is common to the entire international community, the best answer is always the international coordination. However, after a promising start, the international response is required only to those territories to sign agreements for the exchange of information, often with other tax havens. For the moment, to put it mildly, are not clear results.

One problem is the lack of political momentum. The leadership of this initiative should rest with the United States. If the first power to pressure these territories would be much easier for other states to follow its lead. Interestingly, the current president, Barack Obama was one of the three promoters of the most ambitious legislative proposal on tax havens: Levin-Coleman-Obama Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act (Act Stop Tax Haven Abuse). Still, this proposal continues to languish in Congress. It seems unlikely that the Tea Party will take over ... Paradoxically, today, the bankers of these territories are more concerned about the judges and especially the Wikileaks data leakage and political pressure.

Still, from Spain would do something else: collect fees to transactions with tax havens, to deny legal status to companies located in the same or force our banks do not operate from tax havens , or at least give the same information for administrative and judicial authorities that English banks. It is a very old mandate from Genesis to Plato, from the creators shadows. Fiat lux: Let there be light.

(*) Díaz Francisco de la Torre in Spain is spokesman of the Organization of Tax Inspectors