Thin Dividing Line

The use of tax havens to not just avoid the payment of taxes but also to evade them has attracted considerable attention across the world and in India. Tax havens, also known as low-tax or no-tax jurisdictions, enable ultra-rich individuals and corporate entities to not pay taxes, legally and illegally. There is a thin dividing line between tax avoidance (often described as ‘good’ tax planning) and tax evasion (deemed criminal in most countries). In fact, the dividing line is so thin it is virtually non-existent. Tax havens have been used by the rich and the powerful to benefit themselves at the expense of the poor and the underprivileged. This led to widening inequality between citizens and across countries. This book looks at the India-Mauritius Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement in the global context of growing illicit financial flows. This agreement is important because 40 per cent of the total inflows of foreign money into India comes through Mauritius. You will also read about scandals surrounding the IPL, international companies that came under the scanner for tax evasion, black money, havala and an international criminal industry employing bankers, lawyers and corrupt bureaucrats who run an economy parallel to the world economy