Attempt by UK govt to plug tax hole...

[Nilsphone at aol.com]

NOTE the word "harmful" below, used three times, mainly meaning
"harmful competition by offering lower tax rates".

Now, this is very interesting, if unsurprising. Theoretically, there is no 
particular reason why competition in tax rates, i.e. essentially in the 
provision of government services at a lower price, should be "harmful" in 
any sense differing from competition in supplying any other service.


Naturally, the supplier of a particular service (or product) tends to think 
of competition in his own arena as "harmful", whereas competition in any
other is generally a "public good". This is obviously nothing but self-
serving;
the putative robber barons of the last century presumably thought of 
competiton in petroleum, rail transportation and whatnot as "harmful", as did
United and American when airline service opened to competition some
20 years ago.

What makes the assertions of the British and other G7 governments 
particularly irksome is that they simultanaeously advocate competition
in most areas, except their own, and at the same time make a 
- usually implicit - claim to represent some kind of public good, and 
a claim to holding the moral high ground.

Regards

Nils Andersson

In a message dated 1998-11-16 12:34 Pacific Standard Time, jf_avon at citenet.net
writes:

> 
>  From Caribbean Week, business section, updated Nov. 15 1998 (?)
>  
>  =================================================
>  Global initiatives present challenges to BVI
>  
>  BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS - Proposed initiatives created for "combating
>  harmful preferential tax regimes" could present special challenges to 
> offshore
>  financial centres such as the BVI, Chief Minister, Ralph O'Neal has told
the
>  Legislative Council.
>.............
>  the UK
>  Government's resolve to tackle harmful tax competition.........

>  Of the concerns noted by the Chief Minister were OCED initiatives to
counter
>  the spread to tax havens and harmful preferential regimes............