New Tax Haven Numbers at All-Time High
Canadian money stashed in the top 12 global tax havens has hit $170 Billion, according to calculations by Canadians for Tax Fairness using data released this week by Statistics Canada.
The amount parked in the top three havens: Barbados, Cayman Islands and Luxembourg has more than doubled since 2005. “That is $109 billion hidden away, untaxed, while the rest of us pay our share on every cent we earn,” says Dennis Howlett, executive director of Canadians for Tax Fairness.
Howlett points out that a 1 per cent withholding tax on the money held in tax havens could generate $1.7 billion a year.
“The scale of the problem gets larger every year, “ says Howlett. “Ten percent of Canada's $1.8 trillion GDP is sitting offshore while we struggle with questionable austerity measures. If that money was invested in Canada instead of socked away in tax havens, we could have much stronger economic growth.”
Federal and provincial governments lose at least $7.8 Billion in revenues each year because of tax havens.