Tax hypocrisy must stop

The daily Le Qoutidien comments on the hypocrisy of the G20 states in tax matters: "During the G20's preparatory meeting … the finance ministers once again confused the terms tax haven and banking secrecy. Without going into detail we must recall that one can preserve banking secrecy, as Luxembourg has done, and at the same time be integrated into Europe's information systems. This makes a country a cooperative partner state rather than an impenetrable tax haven. … At the very same G20 summit British Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling made the case with reference to Switzerland that tax evasion and 'a banking secrecy that enables people to hide assets without paying the appropriate taxes' could not be tolerated. … Even the British papers attacked the hypocrisy of their own country, where London City has thought up a number of clever systems that enable the rich to optimise their tax payments thanks to offshore accounts … . How far will the tax hypocrisy and crisis populism go?"

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