Panama Papers goes
to Swaziland
Kenworthy
News Media, 10 May 2016
The rich
and powerful are also avoiding the tax man in Swaziland. Nineteen of the Panama
Papers documents are related to Africa’s last absolute monarchy, writes
Kenworthy News Media.
The
leaking of the so-called Panama Papers, with details of offshore financial
information that “strips away the secrecy that cloaks companies and trusts
incorporated in tax havens and exposes the people behind them,” have made
headlines around the world.
When the
International Consortium of Investigative Journalists released the documents
that name more than 360,000 people and companies behind secret offshore
structures in tax havens such as Panama on May 9, nineteen of the documents
were linked to Swaziland.
Obscure
companies from around the world
The documents include more or less obscure companies such as the Fondation La Perle du Nil, registered in Mbabane, with jurisdiction in the British Virgin Islands and linked to Alpha Management Trading Ltd. in Dubai and the fittingly named Talent Profits Limited from Malaysia.
It also
includes individuals such as Ian and Helen McLaughlin, also registered in
Mbabane and shareholders of the Bahamian-based Orca Gold Corporation
International Limited.
There are
links to individuals and companies from places such as Spain, Ecuador, Peru,
Russia, the USA, The UK, Samoa, China and Hong Kong, hiding their assets mostly
in the British Virgin Islands but also in Panama and Jersey.
Although
such companies are often created for tax evasion purposes, being on the Panama
Papers list does not necessarily mean that they have done so.
The king
pays no taxes
The corporate tax rate in Swaziland is 27.5 percent (down from 30 percent in 2013), which is the same as the average rate for Africa, below countries such as the USA (39 percent), India (34 percent) and South Africa (28 percent) but above the global average of 23 percent.
Tibiyo
Taka Ngwane, a fund with a
total worth of around USD 2 billion that in theory is held in trust for all
Swazis, but in practice used as a private fund by King Mswati and the royal
family, is exempt from taxes, as is the king himself.
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