Tax Neutrality is a misunderstood concept. All too often, it gets conflated with preferential tax regimes or tax havens.
Yet Tax Neutral jurisdictions are not tax havens – and their importance cannot be overestimated. Unlike tax havens, which broker in secrecy and shady business dealings, Tax Neutral jurisdictions support the free flow of investment capital, transparent taxation, and are valuable to the global economy.
Here are four ways Tax Neutral jurisdictions differ from tax havens.
Tax Neutral jurisdictions are just that – neutral
Tax Neutral jurisdictions offer no tax incentives to non-resident individuals or businesses. Tax Neutral simply means the jurisdiction in which investment funds, for example, are domiciled does not impose additional taxes beyond those investors and companies are already paying to their own jurisdictions.
Corporations based in tax neutral jurisdictions must still satisfy their home countries’ tax requirements when any profits are realized there. They just don’t incur an additional layer of taxation. This alleviates the risk from double taxation, which can make international business unnecessarily costly and inefficient.
Tax Neutral means tax simplicity, not tax harm
Tax Neutral jurisdictions have simple tax models in which the same stated and effective tax rates are transparently applied to all. Revenues are often raised through fees and consumption taxes, but total government tax revenues as a percentage of GDP are still like tax rates in G20 countries. These revenues are sufficient to fund government operations – without the need for corporate income taxes or differing tax rates for foreign entities.
Tax Neutral jurisdictions also don’t prevent other countries from imposing the taxes they see fit on their citizens and businesses. Therefore, unlike tax havens, Tax Neutral jurisdictions pose no tax harm to other countries’ tax base.
Tax Neutral means openness and compliance (not secrecy and obfuscation)
Tax havens are often associated with financial secrecy, hidden tax information, and closed doors. But Tax Neutrality emphasizes transparency, financial security, open collaboration, and information sharing.
In fact, Tax Neutral jurisdictions lead the way in transparency and information exchange, sharing tax data with international tax and law enforcement agencies and regulatory bodies. They are committed to advanced judicial systems and maintain high due diligence standards to verify beneficial owners, unlike tax havens which can gather incomplete data or rely on self-reporting.
In short, Tax Neutral jurisdictions enable other jurisdictions to collect taxes more effectively while also making it harder for criminals to hide money. They are committed to upholding and supporting international tax and transparency standards.
Tax havens deprive, Tax Neutrality builds
Whereas tax havens deprive countries’ ability to grow and cause financial instability, Tax Neutral jurisdictions benefit local economies and real people. They drive economic development, innovation, and pension fund growth around the world.
With Tax Neutrality, money goes where it’s most needed, especially to emerging economies that may have difficulties accessing capital to support infrastructure and other challenges. Developed and developing countries can use this investment capital to drive economic growth and job creation which increases their tax base while causing no tax harm. Furthermore, small countries with limited diversification options can raise revenue through consumption taxes, worker visas, and other methods.
Locally, areas that may not normally receive investments due to lack of a strong judicial system or other foreign direct investment obstacles can secure capital they may otherwise not be able to access. This helps local economies prosper, creating jobs and increasing tax revenue.
Let’s protect Tax Neutrality
Tax Neutral jurisdictions do not encourage tax evasion, aggressive tax avoidance, unfair base-shifting, or unfair tax competition. On the contrary, they have adopted legislation, regulations, and automatic tax information sharing arrangements that uphold the highest international standards for simplicity, transparency, security, and fairness—words that could never apply to tax havens.
To learn more about Tax Neutrality, download our Tax Neutrality Explained fact sheet.