All About Tax Havens

This past year has witnessed a very healthy explosion in the publication of Tax Haven literature. Suffice it to say, the free market is performing admirably to satisfy human needs.

No sooner had the bite of recession begun to firmly sink its teeth into the pocket-books of the world, than the creative types in international law began to come up with answers—lots of them. Particularly significant was the introduction of a new monthly publication, Tax Haven Review. It is published in Copenhagen by Mr. Noel Fox who is also the publisher of Portfolio and Fund Guide International magazine.

Tax Haven Review (THR) was an instant success, issuing timely and well presented material in a very attractive format of 16 pages per issue.

Last year, my article in REASON's Special Financial Issue was concerned with a broad analysis of the world's tax havens. This year, because the field of tax haven information has grown so quickly, it should be more helpful to acquaint readers of REASON with the fine material available to them. THR is mentioned specifically here because that publication has developed an extensive service for the purchase of tax haven literature.

LITERATURE

The following are brief reviews of new and updated tax haven books, manuals, etc. These reviews have appeared this year in previous issues of THR, and all publications may be ordered from: The Book Center, THR, Kompagnistr. 6, DK-1208 Copenhagen K, Denmark.

FOREIGN TAX HAVENS

Marshall J. Larger, Program Chairman and Edited by Practicing Law Institute (PLI) Managing Editor Seima Arnold

After discussing key factors in choosing any tax haven, the panelist-authors concentrate on detailed analyses of more than a dozen particular havens, their advantages and disadvantages. In addition to examining nations of the Caribbean, in and about Europe and in the Pacific, they consider such specialized forms of doing business as captive foreign insurance companies and foreign flag shipping. Articles, bibliographies, maps, charts and other materials are included in the extensive appendices.

Price 1973, 439 Pages, $50 (plus postage outside U.S.A.)

FOREIGN TAX HAVENS—2d

Course Handbook

The Course Handbook describes how to structure the tax haven entity in accordance with the law and practice of the foreign situs, dealing in detail with a Cayman Islands trust, Netherlands Antilles company and Panama corporation.

Price 1973, 359 Pages (softcover), $20 (plus postage outside U.S.A.)

GRUNDY'S TAX HAVENS

Third Edition 1974 by Milton Grundy, Barrister at Law.

A comprehensive and authoritative survey of the world's tax shelters, will be published in Britain by Bodley Head Ltd. and HLF (Publishers) Ltd. The book contains descriptions of each of the major havens provided by a trust corporation or other financial institution established in the territory. The third edition also includes a chapter by Grundy describing important features of the "quasi havens"—Barbados, Monaco, the Netherlands, the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom—which are being used for a limited range of tax haven-type transactions.

Price: $23.00 (including 2nd class airmail postage)

INTERNATIONAL TAXATION 1974

Edited by Professor G.S.A. Wheatcroft

Based on the papers submitted to the 1974 International Tax Conference, Singapore, this publication, available in two volumes, will be an invaluable reference work for tax consultants and accounts.

Price: $70.50

INTERNATIONAL TAX PLANNING—CAYMAN ISLANDS 1974 TAX SEMINAR TRANSCRIPT

Three days of speeches and panel discussions including papers by Burton W. Kantor, Grant L. Jones, Donald Van Koughnet, Alexander McKie, Sidney R. Pine, David S. Brown, Roy A. Povell, Charles W. Adams, Douglas Wolf, Milton Grundy, Francis E. La brie, Dr. Barry Spitz.

Price $22.50 including postage from Grand Cayman.

INTERNATIONAL TAX STRATEGY SERVICE

Edited by Michael Edwardes-Ker

Authoritative, frank, and kept completely up-to-date, this Service (675 pages) focuses entirely on practical opportunities and techniques for maximizing post-tax profits. Tax strategy in all imaginable situations is analyzed in a clear business-like way: overseas trading activities, anti-avoidance measures (including sham transactions), intercompany pricing, international financing and financial centres, technology exploitation, leasing, captive insurance, holding and headquarter companies, acquisitions, mergers, plant locations, real estate, shipping, offshore funds, exchange rate fluctuations, political risks, executive remuneration, tax strategy for individuals and families, banking secrecy, etc. Eight chapters are devoted exclusively to tax havens. Many further topics, including exchange controls, future tax trends, North Sea Oil, and practical material on trusts, off-shore companies, etc. in course of preparation. Comprehensively cross-indexed.

Now supplemented and up-dated monthly, this Service aims to give you all the advice and information you need to perfect your international tax strategy.

Price $300—plus (airmail) postage $2 (UK), $10 (Europe), $15 (elsewhere).

TAX HAVEN ENCYCLOPEDIA

Edited by Barry Spitz

This loose leaf work enables the practitioner to assess the relative advantages of various tax havens thus facilitating the selection of the most appropriate tax haven for his particular purpose. Special chapters consider the use of tax havens by taxpayers of the United Kingdom, the United States and France. 17 tax havens will be dealt with by experts of the area under analysis. Subsequent noter-up pages and replacement sections will follow at an additional charge.

Price (basic): $58.75 approx., plus supplements Anticipated publishing date April 1975

INTERNATIONAL TAX HAVEN & INVESTORS DIRECTORY

Edited by Noel Fox, Tax Haven Review

The International Investors Directory, already an indispensable guide to Financial Management Services worldwide, has been expanded to include comprehensive information about the Tax Havens of the world, including bank, legal, accounting and business management services available.

Price: $11.75

TAX HAVENS AND MEASURES AGAINST TAX EVASION AND AVOIDANCE IN THE EEC

Edited by J.F. Avery Jones

The papers given before the Associated Business Programmes conference in Amsterdam last November on antitax avoidance measures in the EEC have now been published in book form. It contains chapters on France, Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Luxembourg and the Channel Islands.

Price: $16.50 (U.K.)

TAX HAVENS OF THE WORLD

By Walter H. Diamond and D.B. Diamond

The authors survey not less than twenty-seven recognized and established tax havens. Although the United States government passed a revenue act in 1962 designed to curtail the use of tax havens by Americans, the passage of this legislation has, in effect, encouraged the use of tax havens by various individuals in different ways.

Price: $28.50

Also of special interest to REASON subscribers, will be the THR Readers Service. This service will furnish you with the names and addresses of lawyers, bankers, auditors and tax advisors in international tax havens. You simply indicate the haven(s) which interest you and, if possible, give some idea of the type of professional assistance you require.

To subscribe to THR, write to the aforementioned address. An annual subscription is $90, and a sample issue will be sent to readers of REASON, on request.

OTHER SOURCES

Two—in effect, three—additional areas of tax haven information should also be noted.

The first is the Tax Newsletter of the Financial Times of London. Those who are familiar with this newspaper will know of the detailed expertise it brings to its subsidiary publications. But, as the Financial Times is not readily available in the U.S. unless you seek it out, it should be stated that it is probably the finest newspaper in the world.

Not only does it report on economic/financial news from all over the world, it keeps a constant questioning and investigative attitude toward the economic policies of all governments, including their own. With almost weekly regularity, this newspaper publishes multi-page studies and analyses of world financial centers, tax havens and newsworthy countries.

Particularly important, is the fact that this newspaper gives financial news relative to sound money and real markets—rather than being content with re-writes of official pap turned out by governments, in the manner of most U.S. press.

Tax Newsletter
The Financial Times
Business Enterprises Div.
10 Bolt Court Fleet St.
London EC4A 3HL England

The Financial Times (daily)
551 5th Ave.
New York, NY 10017

(U.S. Correspondents)
1325 E St. N.W.
Washington, DC 20004

The third very important source of Tax Haven information, largely utilized by international attorneys and tax advisors is:

The International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation
Muiderpoort
Sarphatistraat 124
Amsterdam C Holland

This organization will, however, also do research for lay persons. Fees are reasonable considering the nature of the information. Subscriptions for their publications and services are available in a variety of forms, depending upon your needs.

The "Bureau" keeps up to date on every legal development in the world that affects economic and tax conditions. They publish complete, country-by-country manuals, with regular up-dating; handbooks on particular areas of taxation; and special studies on individual nations—with particular emphasis on tax havens.

Some years ago, the study of tax havens, and the access to available literature, was a difficult process. Only a few international legal-eagles knew what was out there, and a lot of them were not telling—at least not at these prices.

Today, however, there is more than enough information readily available on exactly what forms and systems of economic and legal liberty exist in the world. Care must be taken now, more than ever, to determine exactly which haven is best suited to your needs.

Economic problems are increasing rapidly in most parts of the world with no end—or shall we say, sound money—in sight. But it is comforting to know that sound alternatives for planning and action are also increasing. For each new restrictive law passed in one country, there is a less restrictive law passed in another.

Also, the world trend of nationalism is creating one new country after another. These mini, and some not-so-mini countries, usually desire to achieve material progress rapidly—a process that requires capital. The fastest and best way to attract such capital is to become a tax haven. The fastest and best way to protect your own capital is to find and use a tax haven.

Wainright Dawson, Jr., National Director of United Republicans of America, is a consultant in Washington D.C. who specializes in "tactical finance." He is the president of Intersolve, Inc., a financial advertising and publishing firm.