What are "Tax Havens"? Where are they?

Question

Every Country has its own Tax Laws. Some impose higher taxes than others. On the other hand, some countries provide conditional "Income Tax Holidays" (ITH) as a way of enticing Investments. It is said that some Businesses are registered in "Tax Haven" Countries to save &/or to avoid on Tax Payments. How could this be if ALL Business Firms (Foreign &/or Local) not entitled to ITH are to pay taxes wherever they derive Income?

Answer 1

Keep in mind that in tax haven countries, your only exemption from taxes is within the borders of that country. If you are a US citizen or resident, any income derived within the tax haven country is fully taxable in the US.

Answer 2

I'm not sure how all those tax havens or tax shelters work exactly. It can be pretty complicated run around I think. I know countries like Monaco don't have income tax at all. People can get pretty creative avoiding tax. I heard something called 'lease in/lease out' in foreign countries that help you avoid taxes too. Don't remember how that thing work. Crazy people.

I think people basically transfer money all over the place until net income magically turns to 0.

Answer 3

A tax haven is a place where certain taxes are levied at a low rate or not at all. This encourages wealthy individuals and/or firms to establish themselves in areas that would otherwise be overlooked. Different jurisdictions tend to be havens for different types of taxes, and for different categories of people and/or companies.

There are however key factors in considering whether a jurisdiction is a tax haven.

These are some of them : Andorra, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Bahrain, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Cook Islands, Cyprus, Dominica, Gibraltar, Grenada, Guernsey, Isle of Man, Jersey, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Maldives, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Monaco, Montserrat, Nauru, Netherlands Antilles, Niue, Panama, Samoa, San Marino, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Seychelles, Tongo, Turks and Caicos, and Vanuatu.

For further explanations, you can visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_haven