Canada fears losing cash to offshore centres

(Toronto Sun): Offshore financial centres continue to attract billions of dollars of Canadian cash despite the fact that overall investment overseas has been declining, creating debate as to whether Canada is losing out on revenue. According to Statistics Canada, direct investment abroad dropped for a second year in 2010, falling by $4.5 billion to $616.7 billion, pulled down in part by a strong loonie (dollar). However, investment in low-tax countries such as the Bahamas, Barbados and the Cayman Islands all continued to rise. So did the amount invested offshore by Canada’s banks and financial institutions, which accounted for half of all investment abroad last year.

Canadian investment through offshore financial centres totals about $100 billion, or 20% of the total. However, the money rarely stays in the tax havens and is usually passed onto to operations elsewhere around the globe.

Go to article