Paradise papers seen as proof of elite duplicity
November 17th, 2017A conservative columnist in the leading pro-government daily interprets the latest offshore account revelations as proof that Western elites use offshore tax havens to circumvent nation states and that some even use their tax gains against nation states.
In Magyar Idők, Sándor Halbok finds it complacent that the same Western elites that accuse the Hungarian government of corruption use offshore companies and banks to avoid paying taxes. The pro-government commentator lists a number of celebrities, politicians, wealthy investors as well as multinational firms whose names have been revealed in the latest leak known as the Paradise papers. Halbok thinks that individuals and companies should be compelled to pay taxes in the countries where they make their profit, and condemns the habit of some to use their untaxed revenues to influence politics. As an example, Halbok mentions George Soros, and accuses him of using his gains from ‘tax optimisation’ to intervene in national politics hoping to weaken national sovereignty.