The Shrinking Net

Who loves paying Tax?

Did you get up this morning with joy in your heart because you needed to file your Tax return?

If you answered "Not me" – you are not alone!

Ever since an authority determined that the citizens who benefited from its  protection and the services the authority made available to the community should make a contribution  to the costs the authority incurred in providing that protection and those services (a long-winded description for the imposition of taxes!), there have been citizens who have attempted to reduce the amount of their personal contribution.

In 1930s the Duke of Westminster became a high profile flag-bearer for this movement ! Not unexpectedly the tax authorities around the world were not amused. And every nation developed rules to tackle the "scourge" of tax avoidance.

In "The Shrinking Net", corporate and commercial law consultants Graeme and Veldra Fraser explore just how governments have begun to collaborate on an international basis to restrict the opportunities for individuals and corporate entities alike to slip through the taxation net.

·                    Treaties to co-operate with the collection of tax,

·                    The imposition of Global Minimum Tax,

·                    A focus on the collection of "beneficial ownership information"

·                    Attempts to restrict the use of trusts (both locally and off-shore) and

·                    A relentless attack on so-called "tax-havens"

all form part of the strategy being employed.

All these strategies and others are examined in The Shrinking Net