The Extent of Tax Loss and Evasion Caused By Tax Havens At Global Level

Tax havens are not a new phenomenon, but the use of these places has increased steadily from the 1980s to the present day. Tax havens offer, especially for individuals and large companies, with an opportunity to avoid taxation and help them stay out of tax liability in their own countries. Especially when welfare state practices are increasing, the transfer of tax bases of countries to tax havens erodes tax revenues and complicates public finances. In this sense, the use of tax havens has begun to be examined by regulatory authorities and policy makers in the context of the financial crisis that has affected many countries in recent years. Also recently, it has been stated in the so-called “Panama Papers” that individuals with very high incomes and large companies evade tax by means of tax havens. On a global scale, it is stated that 8% of the financial wealth in the world is in tax havens. The main discussion in the study is about the size of the tax loss and evasion that tax havens caused at the global level. In this context, the tax loss and evasion are evaluated in the direction of the present debates and estimated values on tax havens. In order to prevent the accumulation of income and wealth in the hands of a small minority, it should be avoided that tax avoidance and tax evasion through tax havens