LiveOffshore - Expatriate, International Living, Embassies

According to Hays Taxation, “there is currently a high demand for expatriate tax professionals.” Anyone already specialising in expatriate taxation, no matter where in the world they are located, can broaden their base of expertise and therefore expand their chances of placement abroad by including American taxation qualifications and understanding in their own personal repertoire apparently.

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How far should Europe go to limit or even terminate the existence of tax havens?

If it were up to countries like France and Germany, Europe would go all the way - beginning with adding what they have labled uncooperative countries like Switzerland and Luxembourg to a blacklist and issuing punishment for maintaining tax haven status and banking secrecy laws.

Part I and Part II

President-elect Barack Obama plans to crack down on international tax havens, including Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man, within weeks of taking power in January, putting him on a collision course with Gordon Brown.

There is growing international pressure to outlaw the secretive practices of tax havens as a key part of reforms to the world's battered financial system, as the leaders of the world's 20 most powerful economies gather for a major conference in Washington next weekend.

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According to Stephen Platt, an English barrister and Chairman of the BakerPlatt Group, a Senator Barack Obama victory could be a particular threat to offshore centres, including several in the Caribbean.

Obama has vowed to do all he can to shut down offshore centres and, in February 2007, co-sponsored a Bill titled the ‘Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act’ introduced by Senator Carl Levin.

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One man's alarmism is another man's realism.

And what I am about to relate here may move you to take action concerning offshore financial matters rather quickly -- because time and your liberties may be running out. You really do need to think hard about what you should do now.

President Bush will host a "summit meeting" on the global financial crisis on Nov. 15th in Washington, D.C. bringing together "world leaders" for the first in a series of conferences aimed at "reforming" the international financial system.

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The financial crisis will heap even more pressure on tax havens to stop helping clients hide their money from the tax man, but offshore centers look set to retain favor for privacy and other attractions.

Singapore, a growing private banking hub branded as Asia's Switzerland that is seen challenging older offshore centers, is also under pressure to open up from the European Union and due to a probe by Taiwanese prosecutors.

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 With the world economy feeling the pinch from the financial downturn, many countries have vowed to crack down on so-called tax havens in a desperate bid to shore up their finances.

After the US and European governments bailed out a number of banks, many politicians are now beginning to question why some of those same financial institutions can continue to operate in countries that encourage tax evasion.

"Is it is normal that a bank that to we guarantee loans to or we allocate our own funds ... continues operating in tax havens," said French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Wednesday. 

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Around the world, a quiet but fierce battle is raging. In a bid to lure high net-worth individuals to their shores, the world’s tax havens are trying to outrival each other with tax breaks. And the list of combatants is not a short one – according to the US National Bureau of Economic Research, roughly 15 per cent of countries are tax havens. While the UAE and Switzerland may be the first places that spring to mind, there are some unlikely new contenders such as Macedonia and Liechtenstein, among them.

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The financial crisis will heap even more pressure on tax havens to stop helping clients hide their money from the tax man, but offshore centers look set to retain favor for privacy and other attractions.

Singapore, a growing private banking hub branded as Asia's Switzerland that is seen challenging older offshore centers, is also under pressure to open up from the European Union and due to a probe by Taiwanese prosecutors.

All this scrutiny is scaring away clients, raising banks' compliance costs and accelerating a move to onshore banking.

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After the collapse of Icesave - and the failure of Iceland's deposit protection scheme - concern is growing that the tiny island tax havens will leave savers deeply exposed.

The council of ministers on Jersey announced last week that, subject to the agreement of the island's 53 government representatives, it plans to provide a guarantee that bank deposits will be "fully protected" - but only for the island's 91,000 population.

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