The United States was founded as a tax haven. The British Empire tried to impose taxes by force, but a small group of colonists thought they could do a better job governing themselves. The United States became a haven for people dissatisfied with everything the old governments did poorly.
Two centuries later, the United States was the dominant power of the world, taxing Americans much more than the British Empire ever did. Meanwhile, small island nations like the British Virgin Islands were imposing no income taxes at all on their citizens or corporations.
For this, the US and Britain called them a tax haven.
Yet when Americans move more than two thousand miles from California, which imposes high income taxes, to Florida, which imposes no income tax at all, people don’t call Florida a tax haven. So why is the Bahamas, which is less than 200 miles from Florida, called a tax haven?
Here are the Top Ten Biggest Tax Havens of 2018, starting from number ten:
- The United Kingdom
- Bermuda
- Hong Kong
- Luxembourg
- The British Virgin Islands
- The Cayman Islands
- The Netherlands
- Switzerland
- Singapore
- and — the Biggest Tax Haven in the World?– Ireland.
Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar accused the larger states of hypocrisy, saying:
“If the United States, the most successful economy in the world, can have tax competition among member states, why can’t we have the same?”
https://af.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idAFKBN1F61Q9
There’s nothing wrong with Ireland offering a haven from high taxes, but there is something wrong with other powerful nations ganging up and forming a tax cartel which doesn’t allow smaller nations to offer unique services at cheaper prices. Economist Daniel Mitchell wrote:
“Consumers benefit when banks compete for their business. They benefit when grocery stores compete for their business , and they benefit when pet stores compete for their business. Likewise, taxpayers benefit when governments compete … In order to compete with Ireland, nations all over Europe and around the globe are racing to lower their corporate tax rates.”
https://internationalman.com/articles/why-welfare-states-hate-tax-havens-tax-competition-2/
The more tax havens there are, the lower your taxes will be. The first seasteads must be voluntary societies like cruise ships. They will require fees for services, but they will not impose taxes imposed by force on people who don’t choose it.
If island paradises like the Bahamas, British Virgin Islands, and Cayman Islands can provide better services by imposing virtually no taxes at all, imagine what a thousand free floating nations can do.
If you’d like to learn more about how seasteading can peacefully improve your government by providing superior alternatives, go to Seasteading.org, and read, Seasteading: How Floating Nations Will Restore the Environment, Enrich the Poor, Cure the Sick, and Liberate Humanity from Politicians.
DONATE! Support seasteading to restore the environment: www.seasteading.org/donate
“The strongest consensus amongst academics regarding the world’s largest tax havens is therefore: Ireland, Singapore, Switzerland and the Netherlands (the major Conduit OFCs), and the Cayman Islands, British Virgin Islands, Luxembourg, Hong Kong and Bermuda (the major Sink OFCs), with the United Kingdom (a major Conduit OFC) still in transformation.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_haven
Irish PM accuses EU states of hypocrisy over corporate tax: https://af.reuters.com/article/worldN…
The United States “is effectively the biggest tax haven in the world”: Andrew Penney: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articl…
United States as Tax Haven: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_…
Peter A. Cotorceanu, a lawyer at a Zurich law firm, wrote in a legal journal: “How ironic – no, how perverse – that the USA, which has been so sanctimonious in its condemnation of Swiss banks, has become the banking secrecy jurisdiction du jour.”
Created by Joe Quirk and Jackson Sullivan
