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Avoiding Transparency through Offshore Real Estate: Evidence from the United Kingdom

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Abstract

The 2014 Automatic Exchange of Information (AEoI) represents the most comprehensive global effort to combat tax evasion by enabling cross-border information exchange on financial assets. We examine how this policy shifted offshore investment behavior. While the AEoI mandates reporting of financial assets, it excludes real estate holdings. Using administrative data on UK real estate purchases by foreign companies, we show that offshore users substituted financial assets for real estate in response to the new transparency regime. Our findings suggest that real estate assets now account for a growing share of offshore portfolios, partly due to their exclusion from the AEoI.

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  • Jeanne Bomare & Ségal Le Guern Herry, 2025. "Avoiding Transparency through Offshore Real Estate: Evidence from the United Kingdom," AMSE Working Papers 2523, Aix-Marseille School of Economics, France.
    • Handle: RePEc:aim:wpaimx:2523
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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • R30 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Real Estate Markets, Spatial Production Analysis, and Firm Location - - - General
    • H26 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Tax Evasion and Avoidance

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