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Article: My tax paradise: how I (almost) felt the tropical breeze of an offshore haven. (Gazette).
- Article from:
- The American Prospect
- Article date:
- October 7, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 The American Prospect, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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I COUNTED ON A $200 TAX REFUND this year. But the Internal Revenue Service, perhaps sensing that I had vast hidden assets, adjusted my return, and I only got 129 bucks. As a magazine intern and a college student, I make a little less than the average citizen of the Bahamas, who earns about $15,000 per year. The economy of that commonwealth orbits around tourism, smuggling and international finance. Smugglers, of course, don't pay taxes. And in the Bahamas, pretty much nobody does--there are no income, sales, inheritance or withholding taxes.
Which is why the islands are so attractive to multinational corporations seeking to do what all good wealthy institutions ...