Oxfam: The Wealthy Are Hiding Trillions of Dollars from Taxes

According to the British charity organization Oxfam, wealthy individuals around the world may be keeping up to $3.55 trillion out of reach of tax authorities — more than 3% of global GDP. Over 80% of this sum, approximately $2.84 trillion, is concentrated in the hands of just 0.1% of the richest people on the planet.

The report was released on the tenth anniversary of the publication of the “Panama Papers”, a database containing information about the owners of offshore companies, which was made public by journalists in 2016. According to Christian Hallum, head of Oxfam’s international tax division, the “Panama Papers” “revealed the hidden financial world where billionaires move vast fortunes beyond the reach of tax authorities. Even ten years later, the ultra-rich continue to keep oceans of wealth in offshore accounts.”

Oxfam once again calls for additional taxes on the ultra-wealthy and for more coordinated international action to combat offshore holdings and other forms of tax evasion.