IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ehl/lserod/56125.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The end of bank secrecy? An evaluation of the G20 tax haven crackdown

Author

Listed:
  • Johannesen, Niels
  • Zucman, Gabriel

Abstract

During the financial crisis, G20 countries compelled tax havens to sign bilateral treaties providing for exchange of bank information. Policymakers have celebrated this global initiative as the end of bank secrecy. Exploiting a unique panel dataset, our study is the first attempt to assess how the treaties affected bank deposits in tax havens. Rather than repatriating funds, our results suggest that tax evaders shifted deposits to havens not covered by a treaty with their home country. The crackdown thus caused a relocation of deposits at the benefit of the least compliant havens. We discuss the policy implications of these findings.

Suggested Citation

  • Johannesen, Niels & Zucman, Gabriel, 2014. "The end of bank secrecy? An evaluation of the G20 tax haven crackdown," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 56125, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:56125
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/56125/
    File Function: Open access version.
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Huizinga, Harry & Nielsen, Soren Bo, 2003. "Withholding taxes or information exchange: the taxation of international interest flows," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 39-72, January.
    2. Michael Keen & Jenny Ligthart, 2006. "Information Sharing and International Taxation: A Primer," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 13(1), pages 81-110, January.
    3. Thomas Hemmelgarn & Gaëtan J.A. Nicodème & Gaëtan J.A. Nicodeme, 2009. "Tax-Co-ordination in Europe: Assessing the First Years of the EU-Savings Taxation Directive," CESifo Working Paper Series 2675, CESifo.
    4. Gabriel Zucman, 2013. "The Missing Wealth of Nations: Are Europe and the U.S. net Debtors or net Creditors?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 128(3), pages 1321-1364.
    5. Bruce A. Blonigen & Lindsay Oldenski & Nicholas Sly, 2011. "Separating the Opposing Effects of Bilateral Tax Treaties," NBER Working Papers 17480, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Elsayyad, May & Konrad, Kai A., 2012. "Fighting multiple tax havens," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(2), pages 295-305.
    7. Raj Chetty & Adam Looney & Kory Kroft, 2009. "Salience and Taxation: Theory and Evidence," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 99(4), pages 1145-1177, September.
    8. Mihir A Desai & Dhammika Dharmapala, 2011. "Dividend Taxes and International Portfolio Choice," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 93(1), pages 266-284, February.
    9. di Giovanni, Julian, 2005. "What drives capital flows? The case of cross-border M&A activity and financial deepening," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(1), pages 127-149, January.
    10. Wolfgang Eggert & Martin Kolmar, 2002. "Residence-Based Capital Taxation in a Small Open Economy: Why Information is Voluntarily Exchanged and Why it is Not," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 9(4), pages 465-482, August.
    11. Dhammika Dharmapala, 2008. "What problems and opportunities are created by tax havens?," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 24(4), pages 661-679, winter.
    12. James R. Hines & Eric M. Rice, 1994. "Fiscal Paradise: Foreign Tax Havens and American Business," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 109(1), pages 149-182.
    13. May Elsayyad, 2012. "Bargaining over Tax Information Exchange," Working Papers bargaining_over_tax_infor, Max Planck Institute for Tax Law and Public Finance.
    14. Desai, Mihir A. & Foley, C. Fritz & Hines, James Jr., 2006. "The demand for tax haven operations," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(3), pages 513-531, February.
    15. Katarzyna Bilicka & Clemens Fuest, 2014. "With which countries do tax havens share information?," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 21(2), pages 175-197, April.
    16. Huizinga, Harry & Nicodeme, Gaetan, 2004. "Are international deposits tax-driven," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(6), pages 1093-1118, June.
    17. Henry Louie & Donald Rousslang, 2008. "Host-country governance, tax treaties and US direct investment abroad," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 15(3), pages 256-273, June.
    18. Johannesen, Niels, 2014. "Tax evasion and Swiss bank deposits," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 46-62.
    19. Bruce A. Blonigen & Ronald B. Davies, 2002. "Do Bilateral Tax Treaties Promote Foreign Direct Investment?," NBER Working Papers 8834, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    20. Dharmapala, Dhammika & Hines Jr., James R., 2009. "Which countries become tax havens?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(9-10), pages 1058-1068, October.
    21. Henrik Jacobsen Kleven & Martin B. Knudsen & Claus Thustrup Kreiner & Søren Pedersen & Emmanuel Saez, 2011. "Unwilling or Unable to Cheat? Evidence From a Tax Audit Experiment in Denmark," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 79(3), pages 651-692, May.
    22. Webley,Paul & Robben,Henry & Elffers,Henk & Hessing,Dick With contributions by-Name:Cowell,Frank Wit (ed.), 2010. "Tax Evasion," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521130615, September.
    23. Philippe Bacchetta & María Espinosa, 2000. "Exchange-of-Information Clauses in International Tax Treaties," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 7(3), pages 275-293, May.
    24. Kalok Chan & Vicentiu Covrig & Lilian Ng, 2005. "What Determines the Domestic Bias and Foreign Bias? Evidence from Mutual Fund Equity Allocations Worldwide," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(3), pages 1495-1534, June.
    25. repec:hal:pseose:halshs-01053616 is not listed on IDEAS
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Konrad, Kai A. & Stolper, Tim B.M., 2016. "Coordination and the fight against tax havens," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 96-107.
    2. Katarzyna Bilicka & Clemens Fuest, 2014. "With which countries do tax havens share information?," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 21(2), pages 175-197, April.
    3. Marcel GERARD & Lucia GRANELLI, 2013. "From the EU Savings Directive to the US FATCA, Taxing Cross Border Savings Income," LIDAM Discussion Papers IRES 2013007, Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES).
    4. Fernando, Garcia Alvarado & Antoine, Mandel, 2022. "The network structure of global tax evasion evidence from the Panama papers," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 197(C), pages 660-684.
    5. Vincent Bouvatier & Gunther Capelle-Blancard & Anne-Laure Delatte, 2017. "Banks Defy Gravity in Tax Havens," Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) hal-03101505, HAL.
    6. Nicodème, Gaëtan, 2009. "On Recent Developments in Fighting Harmful Tax Practices," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 62(4), pages 755-771, December.
    7. Langenmayr, Dominika & Zyska, Lennard, 2023. "Escaping the exchange of information: Tax evasion via citizenship-by-investment," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 221(C).
    8. Menkhoff, Lukas & Miethe, Jakob, 2019. "Tax evasion in new disguise? Examining tax havens' international bank deposits," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 176, pages 53-78.
    9. David M. Kemme & Bhavik Parikh & Tanja Steigner, 2017. "Tax Havens, Tax Evasion and Tax Information Exchange Agreements in the OECD," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 23(3), pages 519-542, June.
    10. Thomas Hemmelgarn & Gaëtan Nicodème, 2009. "Tax Co-ordination in Europe: Assessing the First Years of the EU-Savings Taxation Directive," Working Papers CEB 09-023.RS, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    11. Schwarz, Peter, 2009. "Why are countries reluctant to exchange information on interest income? Participation in and effectiveness of the EU Savings Tax Directive," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 97-105, June.
    12. Shafik Hebous, 2014. "Money at the Docks of Tax Havens: A Guide," FinanzArchiv: Public Finance Analysis, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 70(3), pages 458-485, September.
    13. Thomas Rixen & Peter Schwarz, 2012. "How Effective is the European Union's Savings Tax Directive? Evidence from Four EU Member States," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(1), pages 151-168, January.
    14. Ludger Schuknecht & Vincent Siegerink, 2021. "The Political Economy of the International Tax Transparency Agenda in the G20/OECD Context," CESifo Working Paper Series 8813, CESifo.
    15. Marcelo Arbex & Sidney Caetano, 2016. "Welfare Implications of AEoI," Working Papers 1608, University of Windsor, Department of Economics.
    16. Casi, Elisa & Spengel, Christoph & Stage, Barbara M.B., 2020. "Cross-border tax evasion after the common reporting standard: Game over?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).
    17. D’Avino, Carmela, 2023. "Counteracting offshore tax evasion: Evidence from the foreign account tax compliance act," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    18. Hsun Chu, 2014. "Tax Enforcement Policy and the Provision of Public Goods with the Presence of Tax Havens," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 61(3), pages 304-321, July.
    19. Bayer, Ralph-C. & Hodler, Roland & Raschky, Paul A. & Strittmatter, Anthony, 2020. "Expropriations, property confiscations and new offshore entities: Evidence from the Panama Papers," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 171(C), pages 132-152.
    20. Michael Keen & Kai A. Konrad, 2012. "International Tax Competition and Coordination," Working Papers international_tax_competi, Max Planck Institute for Tax Law and Public Finance.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • G28 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • H26 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Tax Evasion and Avoidance
    • H87 - Public Economics - - Miscellaneous Issues - - - International Fiscal Issues; International Public Goods
    • K34 - Law and Economics - - Other Substantive Areas of Law - - - Tax Law

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:56125. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: LSERO Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/lsepsuk.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.