Question

A recent survey asked: Is it morally wrong for corporations to use tax havens? Its results: Most said yes. See http://environicsresearch.com/insights/nine-ten-canadians-think-morally-wrong-canadian-corporations-use-tax-havens-new-poll/.

Delving deeper into the issue of tax avoidance, you will go beyond the news release. You will examine the polling data, not just the news release. You will round up the news coverage of the survey results. You will gain a sense of the public debates of tax avoidance in Canada. You will learn from relevant studies on tax justice in civil society by think tanks, governments and academics around the world.

Making good use of your research, you will write a 100-word note starting with the following:

It’s morally wrong for Canadian corporations to use tax havens because ….

That is, you will start by completing the sentence and then you will make your most compelling argument in your submission. You only have 100 words so make one compelling argument and make it well.

Answer 1

It is morally wrong for Canadian corporations to use tax havens because even though tax havens are not entirely illegal but they lead to tax avoidance at an international level. The governments of various countries lose their tax revenue which could be used for infrastructural development. Tax havens accept money without looking at the source or origin of the money, it could be legal as well as illegal. Tax havens convert illegal and untaxed money into legal cash which can be used in non- tax haven countries. The illegal sources provide basis for money laundering which essentially means processing money from illegal source and projecting it as untainted money. This kind of money laundering is also used to fund terrorrism. Thus to avoid terrorism on a global level, money laundering has to be prevented at an international level, and tax havens are a threat to prvention of money laundering at an international level.