Vergi Cennetlerinin Global Düzeyde Neden Olduğu Vergi Kayıp Ve Kaçağının Boyutu

Vergi cennetleri yeni bir olgu olmamakla beraber, bu yerlerin kullanımı 1980’li yıllardan günümüze kadar sürekli artış göstermiştir. Vergi cennetleri, özellikle varlıklı bireylere ve büyük şirketlere vergiden kaçınma olanağı sunmakta ve kendi ülkelerindeki vergisel yükümlülüğün dışında kalmalarına aracılık etmektedir. Özellikle refah devleti uygulamalarının artmış olduğu bir dönemde, ülkelerin vergi matrahlarının vergi cennetlerine aktarılması vergi gelirlerini aşındırmakta ve kamu finansmanlarını zora sokmaktadır. Bu anlamda vergi cennetlerinin kullanımı, son yıllarda birçok ülkeyi etkileyen mali kriz bağlamında düzenleyici kurullar ve politika yapıcıları tarafından incelenmeye başlanmıştır. Yine yakın bir zamanda çok yüksek gelir düzeyine sahip olan bireylerin ve büyük şirketlerin vergi cennetlerinden yararlanarak vergi kaçırdıkları “Panama Belgeleri” adı verilen belgelerle ifade edilmiştir. Global ölçekte dünyadaki mali servetin %8’inin vergi cennetlerinde bulunduğu ifade edilmektedir. Çalışmadaki temel tartışma, global düzeyde vergi cennetlerinin neden olduğu vergi kayıp ve kaçağının boyutu üzerinedir. Bu bağlamda vergi cennetleri ile ilgili mevcut tartışmalar ve tahmini değerler doğrultusunda vergi kayıp ve kaçağı değerlendirilmektedir. Gelir ve servetin küçük bir azınlığın elinde toplanmasının önlenebilmesi için vergi cennetleri aracılığıyla vergiden kaçınma ve vergi kaçırmanın önüne geçilmesi gerekmektedir.

The Extent of Tax Loss and Evasion Caused By Tax Havens At Global Level

Tax havens are not a new phenomenon, but the use of these places has increased steadily from the 1980s to the present day. Tax havens offer, especially for individuals and large companies, with an opportunity to avoid taxation  and help them stay out of tax liability in their own countries. Especially when welfare state practices are increasing, the transfer of tax bases of countries to tax havens erodes tax revenues and complicates public finances. In this sense, the use of tax havens has begun to be examined by regulatory authorities and policy makers in the context of the financial crisis that has affected many countries in recent years. Also recently, it has been stated in the so-called “Panama Papers” that individuals with very high incomes and large companies evade tax by means of tax havens. On a global scale, it is stated that 8% of the financial wealth in the world is in tax havens. The main discussion in the study is about the size of the tax loss and evasion that tax havens caused at the global level. In this context, the tax loss and evasion are evaluated in the direction of the present debates and estimated values on tax havens. In order to prevent the accumulation of income and wealth in the hands of a small minority, it should be avoided that tax avoidance and tax evasion through tax havens.

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