taxation

I always get a couple of laughs when I see these 'tax haven' and 'offshore banking books' marketed to the general public as some sort of panacea for confiscatory taxation. As if some working stiff (like me) can swim up to the pool bar at the hotel in the Caymans and rub elbows with other 'tax refugees' and flip the bird to the IRS. GIVE ME A BREAK. This subject was a pet hobby of mine over the last 6 years and let me tell you that unless you are in the top 1% of income earning americans this book is useless to you. Unless you have a hundred thousand dollars you can blow in attorneys fees to set up your 'technically' legal International Business Corporation, and have a team of CPA's certifiy your tax returns 'assuring' the government that you 'really really' dont own the other 98% of your corporation you can not LEGALLY use the ideas contained in this book. If you wanted an explanation of how the international tax laws work, while at the same time how you could break the tax laws and hide and deposit money in a place like the Bahamas you can use this book. BUT, no matter what type of person you are, you ought to study tax havens for 5 years before you do anything, legal or otherwise.

You need five years to see that a good portion of the 'tax haven' world is nothing but an international racket filled with international con-men. While this book may be dedicated to Patrick Henry 'Give me Liberty and Give me Death' and the American resistance against BRitish Taxation, the persons and mostly corporations illustrated in this book do nothing but fleece the working stiff.

Reading between the lines, all the americans who had to leave the United States to live in these tax free jurisdictions did so because they broke a serious law and were facing jail time. Do you really think that when they got to Costa Rica they stopped operating their business. Between tax cheating felons, guys that welshed out on their spouses in divorce settlements, or people who were sued and are escaping judgments, the tax havens themselves are filled with criminals on the lam.

Case in point, this book mentions that American Doctors facing killer lawsuits often have bank accounts and monies in tax havens because they are judgment proof! Normally Doctors have this incredible thing called 'Malpractice Insurance' that pays out on claims. If a doctor is escaping a judgment it is because he did not carry malpracice insurance (that tells you about the doctor right there) OR the Doctor committed a serious crime, like a sexual battery, in the course of his professioal duties so that his insurance company disclaimed coverage. In either case I think the picture is clear. Remember OJ Simpson going to the Isle of Mann off of England during the murder trial ;)

Furthermore, over the past 5 years I have seen the IRS and Congress move steadily in the direction of stopping tax haven activity entirely. It is mentioned in this work that you cna get an offshore debit card that looks like a regular Visa or Mastercard. So in that manner you could spend your undeclared dividends and interest in the USA. Well that was great until the IRS subpoenad all the Mastercard accounts where the receipts were generated to credit networks set off in a few key areas. Now who do you think is going to be audited.

Furthermore, there have been some spectacular bank failures in these tax havens, and remember there is no FDIC. The oft touted bank secrecy laws in these countries are great until an enterpirsing government agency gets a back door plant in these institutions with Mr. Benjamin Franklin taking the lead.

Really, this book is the best on the subject of tax havens by far. In fact I think this is the only book that has a TECHNICALLY legal way for them to be used by a U.S. Citizen. The book is well written and appears to cover all the bases, but I assure you it does not. The book is similar somewhat to a prospecuts of a risky investment or tax shelter that a bunch of clever lawyers and accountants have come up with. Technical compliance with tax laws will most likely spare you criminal prosecution if you get called on it, but of course you can still be hit with civil penalties.

As an American you should be AWARE of the existence of this aspect of international finance. You should be aware that you have monetary escape routes in the event of disaster, and really, this book will open your eyes to a world 99% of america knows nothing about, but it is no 'everyone can do it' tax shelter. This is a corporate shell game, and I believe the recent Enron debacle involved the use of offshore vehicles to disguise losses and such, that fleeces the public. With sufficient thought, it is hypocrital in the first degree to think that by allowing corporate fat cats and high net worth individuals to park billions offshore and pay no taxes, we, the wroking public, are somehow 'getting back' at the IRS. The only person getting killed here is me. Nothing more.

I give this book 4 stars because it is the best book on the subject, and is a good read. While it is romantic and fun to imagine oneself parking millions of dollars into some royal bank in Monaco and relaxing by the pool for the rest of your life while you pay no taxes, this is a pipe dream a sales pitch of this, and other books like it.