January 14

VIEW FROM AWAY: Caymans devoted to helping wealthy dodge taxes

The Charleston Gazette

Annette Zavareei is more than just a Charleston counselor. She's also an activist who jumps into crusades.

She went on a Caribbean cruise sponsored by The Nation magazine and CodePink. At George Town on Grand Cayman Island, her group of more than 100 went to a waterfront office building, Ugland House, a notorious tax shelter that is the official address of 18,857 corporations.

The group staged a public protest, waving signs saying "Send Our Tax Money Home" and "We Want Our Money Back" and the like.

During the 2008 presidential campaign, Barack Obama said the Cayman building supposedly holding 18,000 corporate offices was "either the biggest building in the world or the biggest tax scam in the world."

Defeated Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney is just one of numerous American multimillionaires keeping money in the low-tax Caymans.

After the Nation/CodePink protest, a Cayman law firm based in Ugland House, Maples & Calder, issued a statement saying its 18,000 clients don't violate any tax laws. If American reformers dislike the arrangement, it said, they should persuade Congress to change America's tax code.

Great idea. Is it impossible to revise statutes so the rich cannot elude their fair share of support for America by funneling cash abroad?

The Financial Times of London wrote:

"For the Caymans, a British crown colony 150 miles southwest of Cuba, business and financial services contribute 30 percent of its gross domestic product and employ more than 20 percent of its labor force. Operating a tax haven has helped make the tiny island chain the fifth-largest banking center ranked by assets."

Think of that: An island's economy depends heavily on helping the wealthy duck taxes. Again, we wish Congress would halt this odious practice.

-- The Charleston Gazette,

West Virginia, Jan. 3

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