Tax Dodgers Database
Naming and shaming corporate tax dodgers
At number 1 on the financial secrecy index, Switzerland is the most discreet tax haven of them all. As a result, the mountainous country is home to about a third of the world's offshore private wealth.
Extravagant yachts, exclusive luxury shops and grand hotels are symptomatic of the staggering amount of money funnelled through Monaco by the world’s wealthiest. Topshop and Arcadia owner Phillip Green has been accused of using Monaco to avoid tax by registering his corporation under the name of his wife, Tina, who enjoys a life of opulence on Monte Carlo’s magnificent beaches.
Styling itself as a "modern offshore financial centre" the BVI has no corporation tax, no capital gains tax, no profit tax and no VAT. The government receives the majority of its revenues through annual license fees, paid by the multinational companies allowed to operate in the semi-autonomous British territory.
At number 1 on the financial secrecy index, Switzerland is the most discreet tax haven of them all. As a result, the mountainous country is home to about a third of the world's offshore private wealth.
When multinational companies move their profits out of high tax jurisdictions they usually end up in one of the tax havens below. Tax havens are characterised by having low tax rates and discreet banking systems meaning that it is difficult to determine how much money many companies have stashed away in their offshore accounts.
Tax havens
Tax havens mapped
The FTSE connection
In 2011 campaign group ActionAid ran an investigation into the biggest UK companies' use of offshore tax havens. They found that 98% of the companies listed on the FTSE 100 index had set up subsidiary companies in at least one global tax haven. Below, The Guardian's infographic shows the worst offenders registering companies in the low tax jurisdictions of Jersey, Luxembourg and the Cayman Islands.
