Thursday, June 10, 2021

Trove of Never-Before-Seen Records Reveal How the Wealthiest Avoid Income Tax

 

Trove of Never-Before-Seen Records Reveal How the Wealthiest Avoid Income Tax

ProPublica has obtained a vast trove of Internal Revenue Service data on the tax returns of thousands of the nation’s wealthiest people, covering more than 15 years. The data provides an unprecedented look inside the financial lives of America’s titans, including Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, Rupert Murdoch and Mark Zuckerberg. It shows not just their income and taxes, but also their investments, stock trades, gambling winnings and even the results of audits… America’s billionaires avail themselves of tax-avoidance strategies beyond the reach of ordinary people. Their wealth derives from the skyrocketing value of their assets, like stock and property. Those gains are not defined by U.S. laws as taxable income unless and until the billionaires sell. To capture the financial reality of the richest Americans, ProPublica undertook an analysis that has never been done before. We compared how much in taxes the 25 richest Americans paid each year to how much Forbes estimated their wealth grew in that same time period. We’re going to call this their true tax rate. The results are stark. According to Forbes, those 25 people saw their worth rise a collective $401 billion from 2014 to 2018. They paid a total of $13.6 billion in federal income taxes in those five years, the IRS data shows. That’s a staggering sum, but it amounts to a true tax rate of only 3.4%…”



Law Technology Today: “What identity theft comes down to is that your personal and confidential information ends up in the wrong hands and gets used without your permission for purchases and all kinds of fraudulent activities. The scary part is that most of us willingly make our personal information available online, and it is easy for cybercriminals to steal it. Considering that we all use technology and the internet nowadays, this could happen to anyone. On the up-side, though, identity theft can be prevented with some basic knowledge, planning, and awareness…”


Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, June 6, 2021 – Privacy and security issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and security, often without our situational awareness. Four highlights from this week: Two New Laws Restrict Police Use of DNA Search Method; On the Taxonomy and Evolution of Ransomware; Amazon’s Ring Finally Discloses Police Requests; and The Limits of Law and AI.

 



The whistleblower who leaked the secret U.S. Treasury documents to BuzzFeed News that would ultimately form the basis of the FinCEN Files investigation has been sentenced to six months in prison.

Natalie EdwardsNatalie Mayflower Sours Edwards was a senior adviser at the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network before she was arrested in 2018 and charged with sending confidential suspicious activity reports that detailed potentially dirty money transactions to BuzzFeed News reporter Jason Leopold. The 2,100 documents became the backbone of an international ICIJ-led investigation that exposed widespread money laundering and gaping regulatory holes in the global financial system.

“The FinCEN Files revealed for the first time in forensic detail how powerful global banks knowingly profit from corruption and how authorities around the world allow the dark economy to flourish,” said ICIJ director Gerard Ryle. 

“Natalie Mayflower Sours Edwards saw evidence of massive global wrongdoing and risked her freedom to make the public aware of both the misconduct and the numerous failures to thwart it. Her actions and our reporting have sparked unprecedented international reform.”

The sentencing marked the first time BuzzFeed News acknowledged Edwards as their source. 

“She fought to warn the public about grave risks to America’s national security, first through the official whistleblower process, and then through the press. She did so, despite tremendous personal risk, because she believed she owed it to the country she loves,” BuzzFeed News spokesman Matt Mittenthal said in a statement.

HISTORIC DEAL
G7 finance ministers have agreed to a 15% global minimum tax, which would weaken the lure of tax havens for multinational companies. But their plan would need international backing to move forward, and experts have already spotted potential loopholes. 

MISSED OPPORTUNITY? 
New corporate tax transparency rules in the EU, five years in the making, leave out most countries in the world, which some advocates say make the agreement “flawed” and “meaningless.” 

PRESS FREEDOM, POST-ARAB SPRING
From access to information and censorship, to investigating corruption and threats against female journalists, a panel of ICIJ partners from the Middle East and North Africa look back on the changes over the decade and why hope for the region remains. Watch the discussion here. 

BUILDING POLITICAL WILL
In a first-of-its-kind United Nations General Assembly meeting, world leadership and stakeholders shared different ideas for anti-corruption measures critical to post-pandemic economic recovery.

 

 

Cash

How the world’s richest defend their wealth, with help from a dedicated industry

European plan to unify corporate tax rules and recoup billions faces steep hurdles

 

Barbara Maseda MTI

Secrecy, intimidation, and cracking the ‘iron wall’ around Cuba

Raphael Halet, Lux Leaks

Fears of ‘significant deterrent’ for whistleblowers as top court quashes Lux Leaks case

 

India

Indian reporters find new ways to expose ‘vaccine inequity’ and COVID-19 data

Moussa Aksar

Free press advocates call on Niger to reverse ‘disastrous’ fine for FinCEN Files reporter

 

A decade of digital evolution to help reporting revolutions at ICIJ

Covering corruption, coups, and war crimes in the Middle East

 

US tax plan proposes overhaul to audit high earners and corporations for tax evasion

Australia

How climate change skepticism held a government captive

 

Cyprus, Ghana and Kenya join growing list of countries to create ownership registries

Meet the Investigators

Behind the scenes of the Panama Papers story that brought down Iceland’s PM

 

Panama Papers

Five years later, Panama Papers still having a big impact

money

Panama Papers revenue recovery reaches $1.36 billion as investigations continue

 

ICIJ nominated for Nobel Peace Prize for combating dark money flows

Panama Papers

The fight against offshore crime will be a long campaign