Tax Evasion and Tax Havens since the Nineteenth Century

Preface
Contents
Editors and Contributors
About the Editors
Contributors
List of Figures
List of Tables
1 Introduction. “Low-Tax Predators” Rather Than “Tax Havens”: New Perspectives on the History of the International Tax Evasion and Avoidance Market
	A History Still in Its Infancy
	A New Periodization and Its Consequences
	Factors Behind the Formation and Development of Tax Havens
	The Predatory Role of Tax Havens
	The Need for a Rigorous Definition and a Sound Concept of Tax Havens
	References
Part I Emergence and Expansion of Tax Havens
2 The Emergence and Expansion of Tax Havens, 1850–2000: Insights from a New Dataset
	The Construction of a Dataset on Tax Havens’ History
		The Role of Legal Reforms
		Data
	The Development of Tax Havens
	Determinants
		The Role of Demand
		Other Determinants
	Conclusion
	Bibliography
3 Emergence and Expansion of the Swiss Tax Haven: The Tax Privileges for Rich Foreigners in the Canton of Vaud, 1840–1959
	Some Figures
	Why Attract Wealthy Foreigners?
	The Tax Exemption of Wealthy Foreigners at the Heart of the Emergence and Development of Wealth and Income Taxation (1840–1916)
	The Lump-Sum Taxation: A Product of the First World War (1918–1946)
	The Effects of the Second World War: A Minimal Revision of Lump-Sum Taxation (1947–1959)
	Conclusion
	Bibliography
4 Emergence of, and Threats to, the Belgian Tax Haven During La Belle Epoque, 1890–1914
	‘A Convenient and Safe Haven’
	New Military Expenses and the French Initiative
	Levie’s Taxes
	The Excellence of Levie’s Speech
	The Four Tax Rules of Charles Woeste
	Conclusion
	Bibliography
5 The Oil Multinational Shell’s History of Using Tax Evasion Methods, Including Tax Havens and Political Pressure, 1914–1974
	Introduction
	Avoiding Dutch Taxes Via a ‘Trick’
		Amendment of Statutes
		Failed Attempt to Deceive the Tax Authorities
		Political Influence
			Tax Gifts on Curaçao
		Complicated Construction
		Position of Power
		Higher Taxes for the Oil Concern
		Tax Evasion of 100 Million
	Using the Tax Haven of Curaçao
	A ‘Sweetener’ of 35–100 Million
	Conclusion
	Bibliography
6 Swedish Emigration to Switzerland in the 1960s–1980s Period: Tax Exile and Settlement Choices
	Settlement Choices of the Wealthy—to Minimise Taxes or to Live with Other Wealthy People?
	Sources and Data
	Taxation in Sweden and Switzerland—An Overview
	Swedish Immigration in Switzerland
	Tax Rates in the Swiss Cantons
	Settlement of Swedes in Swiss Cantons
		Swedes as Important Lump-Sum Taxpayers
		The Clustering of Swedes in Switzerland and Their Socio-Economic Background
	Conclusion
	Bibliography
7 The Rise of Tax Havens and Conduit Countries from the Early 2000s
	Characteristics of Corporate Tax Havens and Conduit Countries
	Recent Developments
	The Proof of the Pudding Is in the Eating
	Conclusions
	Bibliography
8 Luxury Free Ports as Purpose-Built Conduits for Tax Evasion, 1990–2020
	The History of Free Ports
	Geneva Free Port
	UK Free Ports
	Conclusion
	Bibliography
Part II Tax Evasion: Extent, Causes, and Conflicts
9 Income Tax Evasion and Avoidance in Germany, 1850–1920
	Tax Collection and Evasion of UK Income Tax
	Progressive and Comprehensive Income Tax in German States
	Criminal Tax Law and Tax Evasion in Prussia
	Bremen
	The German Pioneer of Progressive Income Tax: Saxony 1874–1914
	Tax Avoidance and Evasion in Saxonia in WWI
	Outlook
	Bibliography
10 Volume, Social Distribution, and the Instrumentalisation of Tax Evasion in Switzerland: The Case of Zurich, 1860–1945
	The Extent of Tax Evasion and Its Social Distribution (1860–1919)
	The Political Mobilisation of Tax Evasion Before World War I
	Tax Evasion in Zurich During the Interwar Period and the Second World War
	Conclusion
	Bibliography
11 War Profits and Tax Evasion: Italian Fiscal Policies in the First World War and After the War, 1915–1924
	The Tax on War Profits
	The Main Tax Evasion Practices
	The Assessment of Income and the Collection of the Tax
	The Payment of the Tax and Its Vision
	Conclusions
	Bibliography
12 Tax Compliance in a Crisis: Evidence from the Great Depression, 1929–1936
	Introduction
	Background
	Data
	Factors Associated with Tax Non-compliance
	Persistent Effects of Tax Non-compliance
	Discussion
		Limitations
		Implications
	Concluding Comments
	Appendix
	Bibliography
Part III Fighting Tax Evasion and Tax Havens?
13 Criminalising Tax Evasion in France, Early Nineteenth Century–2008
	Criminal Sanctions Limited to Indirect Taxes During the Long Nineteenth Century
	The Difficult Extension of the Repressive Regime to Direct Taxes (1900–1936)
	Punishments and Convictions in the Second Half of the Twentieth Century
	Conclusion: A Purely Symbolic Penalisation
	Bibliography
14 “These Patriots Who Misuse the Law”: The Background to the United Kingdom’s Anti-Tax Haven Legislation of 1936
	Offshore Tax Avoidance in the Pre-1914 Era
	Taxpayers Shift from Offshore Investment Accounts to Offshore Holding Companies and Trusts
	The Revenue’s Search for a Legislative Solution to Offshore Tax Planning
	Problems Regarding Information and Enforcement, and the Subsequent Fate of the Legislation
	References
15 Tax Evasion as Seen by French Tax Administrations from the 1920s to the 1970s: Pragmatism in Action
	Propaedeutic Between Two World Wars
		The Ideas Are in Place: The National Bloc
		An Uncompromising Assessment in 1929
		1.3 Late but Promising Reforms
	Between Resistance and Accommodation
		The Tax Problem
		Time for Reforms and Compliance Teams
		Tax Intolerance
	Conclusion—Fighting Tax Evasion: Is It an Impossibility?
	Bibliography
16 Detecting Ordinary Tax Evaders: The Example of the 1945 National Solidarity Tax in France
	A Reparation Tax Threatened by Evasion
		Fighting Tax Evasion: A Political, Financial and Moral Imperative
		A Campaign Plan to Fight Tax Evasion Upstream
	Massive Evasion and Avoidance? The Statistics in Relation to the Files
		A Systematic and Methodical Control of the Files
		From Arbitration to Arbitrariness? The Controller’s Personal Interpretation
	Conclusion
	Bibliography
17 Tax Education After WWII: How Spain, the USA, and West Germany Tried to Make Their Citizens Pay Honestly
	Introduction: Tax Education as One Field of Tax Compliance Improvement
	Tax Education as “Training in Citizenship”: A Transnational Comparison
		USA: The International Forerunner in Tax Education
			Tax Education as War Propaganda
			The 1950s/1960s
			The 1970s/1980s
	Spain: Tax Education Under Dictatorship, Transition and Democracy
		Tax Education in an Authoritarian Regime
		From Subjects to Citizens
		Tax Education in Developed Democracy
	Western Germany: Largely an Abstinence of Tax Education
		Widespread Tax Evasion After WWII
		No More Tax Education: When the Economic Miracle Starts
	Conclusion and Open Questions
	Bibliography
Index