Tiny Problamatic Detail in Implementing 'Automatic Exchange of Tax Information'

Automatic Exchange of tax information is an idea pushed by high-tax advocates of keeping tabs on international assets of the world's richest under some ridiculous idea that they are not already paying their fair share of tax. Their answer is to transmit around the world everyone's asset, bank account and earnings data. Of course there is a small problem in doing all off this (excluding the obvious issues of privacy and security of such data) that even the promoters of the system admit:

There are unstable and corrupt governments. So they have to be taken out of the system. But they’re the exception not the norm. - Via Tax Research UK

Now just who gets to declare that a Government is 'unstable' or 'corrupt'? Certainly not the UN. That house is full of unstable and corrupt governments.

Not for anything, but this is the problem that kills this system simply because it is the unstable and corrupt governments that will demand access to this information.

During the presentation that this comment was made, Venezuela was used as an example in that there is a threat to the wealthy by unscrupulous people in Venezuela necessitating a need for people to conceal their assets. An explanation was made that this is a bogus excuse in that people already know who has the money.

Too bad that in Venezuela it is the Government itself acting as the thug, confiscating personal and corporate assets. Not only that, but the wealthy are fleeing the country out of fear of losing their life savings. Is Venezuela's Government Corrupt or unstable enough to exclude them from Automatic Exchange of Tax Information? I would say yes. My guess is that the supporters of this system would think otherwise. Simply because if Venezuela does not learn about the earning of their citizens abroad, these people might get away with not paying their 'fair share' of taxes, and we can't have that can we.

Along those lines:

• Is Russia too corrupt or unstable to permit Automatic Exchange of Tax Information?
• Is Zimbabwe too corrupt or unstable to permit Automatic Exchange of Tax Information?
• Is Iran too corrupt or unstable to permit Automatic Exchange of Tax Information?
• Is China too corrupt or unstable to permit Automatic Exchange of Tax Information?
• Is North Korea too corrupt or unstable to permit Automatic Exchange of Tax Information?
• Is Myanmar too corrupt or unstable to permit Automatic Exchange of Tax Information?
• Is Yeman too corrupt or unstable to permit Automatic Exchange of Tax Information?
• Is Nigeria too corrupt or unstable to permit Automatic Exchange of Tax Information?
• Is Libya too corrupt or unstable to permit Automatic Exchange of Tax Information?
• Is Egypt too corrupt or unstable to permit Automatic Exchange of Tax Information?

Much of this work in fighting tax evasion is under the banner of helping the world's poorest. Well, much of the world's poorest live in these same countries with corrupt and unstable governments. These countries do need to be fixed. However, giving them more money is not the way to do it. In most cases a regime change is required. (Along with a good dose of education for the population, especially the children) The UN should be taking the lead on this. Of course instead it has put itself in bed with those who are the very problem.

Fix the countries and poverty will mostly fix itself. Injecting billion more in aid under the fantasy that it will somehow help the poor just delays any real action to solve the problem. We have decades of inaction to prove this.

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