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Tax Doesn't Have to Be Taxing: London's ‘Onshore’ Finance Industry and the Fiscal Spaces of a Global Crisis

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  • Thomas Wainwright

    (Small Business Research Centre, Kingston University, Kingston Hill, Kingston Upon Thames, Surrey KT2 7LB, England)

Abstract

In this paper I will explore London's onshore finance industry and how it facilitates corporate tax avoidance programmes. In doing so, I will discuss how financial elites design transactions and corporate activities so as to minimise their exposure to taxation, and how these structures are shaped by the international geographies of taxation. I will investigate an area of London's financial sector that has previously been neglected by geographers and social scientists. Finally, I turn to illustrate how tax minimisation strategies are implemented, through the example of residential mortgage-backed securitisation, and how tax-minimisation strategies made securitisation a practical tool for financiers. This provides new insights into how taxation elites facilitated the increased financialisation of Britain's economy and the severity of its exposure to the credit crunch.

Suggested Citation

  • Thomas Wainwright, 2011. "Tax Doesn't Have to Be Taxing: London's ‘Onshore’ Finance Industry and the Fiscal Spaces of a Global Crisis," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 43(6), pages 1287-1304, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:43:y:2011:i:6:p:1287-1304
    DOI: 10.1068/a43528
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    References listed on IDEAS

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