Mauritius Leaks

I firmly believe the system should serve the many – the good, the earnest and the hardworking, the compliant citizens who abide by the law and deserve to have its institutions live up to the standards they themselves have set by their goodness and hard work.”
                   - Commissioner Chris Jordan, 2019 Tax Institute National Convention

Your Data Were ‘Anonymized’? These Scientists Can Still Identify You NYT

Protecting enablers: attorney-client privilege is just the tip of the iceberg in facilitating illicit financial flows Read Article  via  Will Fitzgibbon, a reporter with ICIJ.  I’m taking over the newsletter this week to tell you about a new investigation into a tax scandal you’ve probably never heard of; one that rips off some of the poorest countries in the world.  We’ve called the investigation Mauritius Leaks. If you want to know how big corporations exploit loopholes in a global system, then you will want to read more. Can’t find Mauritius on a map? You’re not alone. Even if you can’t pinpoint it (it’s in the Indian Ocean, near Madagascar), Mauritius – a tax haven – is a thorn in the side of many developing countries. We found that multinational corporations use Mauritius’ low tax rates and things called “double taxation treaties,” to pay less in taxes to countries including India, Namibia and even the United States. As one tax expert told me: “It may be a small tax haven, but it’s defying the U.S., so playing big.”

How tiny Mauritius siphons tax revenue from poor nations to benefit elites Inside the firm at the heart of Mauritius Leaks

Mauritius Leaks is the latest chapter in ICIJ’s award-winning offshore reporting. It started with a story I wrote in 2017 as part of the Paradise Papers investigation and continued when an anonymous source sent us a USB key in the mail that contained 200,000 confidential files (thank you, whistleblower!). This is one of the most difficult investigations I have worked on. (And, yes, I was here for Panama Papers.) We spoke to almost 60 tax experts to help us understand the documents. I spent 72 hours just trying to comprehend Section 70 of the Thai Revenue Code (not recommended for a breezy weekend). But I’m glad I did. It helped me understand how one company set up a shell operation in Mauritius to avoid paying millions of dollars in taxes to Thailand – a country where two million children live in households that earn below the poverty line. I also spoke to dozens of tax officials from around the world. Some spoke publicly for the very first time; others were so angry about tax dodging that they swore in frustration! (I like to think it’s our ongoing interest and independent reporting on tax dodging that encouraged them to speak with us.) These officials confirmed what the 54 reporters who worked on Mauritius Leaks learned from our detailed analysis of emails, bank statements and contracts: multinational corporations have used shell companies that exist only on paper to avoid paying taxes. That’s a big deal for countries without enough money to curb child mortality or to build enough hospitals. We looked at the offshore dealings of a shell company owned by Aircastle (which leases planes to American Airlines, for example). The Mauritius company made millions in revenue in one year from South Africa. We found this at the bottom of one of their Mauritius tax returns:

We’ve learned so much from working with reporters around the world – a central part of every ICIJ project. For Mauritius Leaks, we are proud to be working with new faces from Mauritius, La Reunion, Uganda, Tanzania, the United States and the United Kingdom. “You have countries trapped in poverty,” Ugandan editor Tabu Butagira told me when he first started working on the investigation. “Investments are not funded and that’s fewer services for the ordinary person … Why are people who are making a lot of money not paying their share of tax?” Will Fitzgibbon ICIJ's Africa partnership coordinator and reporter If spreadsheets are your thing, you can download data related to 200 companies we found in the leak – and do your own investigation! ICIJ Publishes List of Mauritian Companies Used by Conyers ... Mauritius Leaks: Global tax system is corroded beyond use – Tax Justice Network response July 23, 2019 by Mark Bou Mansour Leave a Comment Commenting on the Mauritius Leaks, Chief Executive at the Tax Justice Network Alex Cobham said: “The revelations coming out of Mauritius are yet more proof of the fact that the international rules we have for taxing multinational corporations and wealthy individuals have been corroded beyond use. … [Read more...] Filed Under: Blog #MauritiusLeaks primer: What to know about corporate tax haven Mauritius July 23, 2019 by Alex Cobham Leave a Comment The ICIJ's MauritiusLeaks has produced a series of revelations about the behaviour of international investors using the law firm Conyers Dill & Pearman in Mauritius, typically to hold their assets in other countries across Africa. But why Mauritius? Here we set out the key features of this … [Read more...]