Wealth in Tax Havens

Although there is no consensus on the number of tax havens in the world it’s estimated at over 150. Some of these tax havens are whole countries (like Bermuda), and others just a state or territory within a country (like Nevada). The list of tax havens is constantly changing as new tax havens are added (like Labuan in the Asian Pacific), and other ceasing (like Vanuatu).

The Tax Justice Network (an anti-tax haven pressure group) estimated that capital held offshore amounted to between $21 trillion and $32 trillion (between 24–32% of total global investments). The US Public Interest Research Group said in 2014 that the United States loses roughly $184 billion per year due to corporations such as Pfizer, Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, and Citigroup using offshore tax havens to avoid paying US taxes. In 2010-2012 Pfizer paid no US income taxes despite earning $43 billion. Microsoft held $76.4 billion overseas in 2013, thus saving the corporation $24.4 billion in taxes.