The Paradise Papers: How Ridiculously Easy It Is for the Rich to Avoid Taxes
I don&#x27;t think this article actually explains how the rich are <i>avoiding</i> taxes using these layered schemes of trustees and powers of attorney.<p>First, let&#x27;s set aside <i>corporations</i> like Apple earning foreign income and not repatriating it or claiming Ireland tax jurisdiction or special treatment EU doesn&#x27;t like.  For this story, I&#x27;m specifically interested in the mechanisms <i>citizens</i> use to evade taxes.<p>To me, the journalists are conflating 2 situations:<p>1) hiding money &amp; assets (rich people like to hide money from spouses and their divorce lawyers, or hide them from lawsuits)<p>2) not declaring money to evade taxes<p>A lot of the money that the rich store at the islands <i>has already been seen by the IRS</i> and taxes were paid on it.  Therefore, I&#x27;m not getting a clear picture of which situation dominates...is it hiding money or evading taxes?  If its evading taxes, I&#x27;d prefer the author explain <i>that</i> in more detail.  Outlining the opaque layers of ownership doesn&#x27;t really explain the tax evasion part.<p>I ask this question because I read a book about &quot;protecting your assets&quot; and the techniques that author Jan D. Weir talks about <i>overlap</i> with hiding legally obtained money that all lawful taxes have been paid on.