Tax Avoidance 101

Governments protect their privileged class, notably America, the world’s leading tax haven, letting foreign corporate and high-net worth individuals shelter their wealth, free from taxation. Many thousands of US businesses and wealthy individuals largely avoid taxes by registering in Delaware, more a tax haven than a state. 

Ah…the unsinkable Clintons. Shameless crooks by any reasonable standard. [CC BY-NC-ND by NeonNero]

Trump and Clinton do it at the same 1209 North Orange Street Wilmington, Delaware address, along with 285,000 business firms, London’s Guardian reported. They’re both tax cheats. So is Hillary’s husband Bill, sheltering his wealth at the same Corporation Trust Centre (CTC) address, a tax avoidance scam few Americans know anything about.

Registering in Delaware lets businesses and shell companies created solely for tax avoidance “take advantage of strict corporate secrecy rules, business-friendly courts and the ‘Delaware loophole,’ which can allow companies to legally shift earnings from other states to Delaware, where they are not taxed on non-physical incomes generated outside of the state,” the Guardian reported.

[dropcap]C[/dropcap]linton and Trump refuse to explain why they’re tax cheats. Clinton lied, claiming as president she’ll crack down on “outrageous tax havens and loopholes that super-rich people across the world are exploiting in Panama and elsewhere.”  After returning to private life in February 2013, she “registered ZFS Holdings LLC at CTC’s offices,” reported the Guardian. 

“Bill Clinton set up WJC LLC, a vehicle to collect his consultation fees, at the same address in 2008.” A spokesman for Hillary claiming the move wasn’t for tax avoidance lied. Registering in Delaware enables it. Trump’s business interests include 100s of companies – 378 registered in Delaware, reported the Guardian. He pays the state of Delaware a lot of money, he said, failing to explain how much he saves by cheating other states where his businesses operate.

An Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy report, titled “Delaware: An Onshore Tax Haven” called the state “a magnet for people looking to create anonymous shell companies, which individuals and corporations can use to evade an inestimable amount in federal and foreign taxes.”  More businesses register in the state than its population of under one million. Clinton called tax havens “a perversion” while she and husband Bill take advantage of a corrupt system legally.