Tax havens: Is "royal family" part of it?

[Humsafar]

Coveted haven for Indian barons
The recent exposé by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and its Indian partner, The Indian Express, has reflected the long-standing perception that Indian business barons have a particular hankering for the British Virgin Islands (BVI), and not just for its scenery.

Among the 612 Indians included in the list range are Lok Sabha Congress MP Vivekanand Gaddam and industrialists Ravikant Ruia and Vijay Mallya.

In some cases, the name of the investor is mentioned as a “director” or “beneficial owner” of the offshore company, which will contain names, addresses and passport details of the investor in question. The investigation has also shed some light on how a group of “nominee directors” serve as on-paper representatives of more than 21,000 companies, with some directors representing as many as 4,000 firms each.
The Hindu: Full story

It is entirely possible that the Dai and his shahzadas and their proxies could be on this list of rich people who have stashed away their wealth in offshore accounts to avoid taxes and scrutiny? Let's wait for the full publication of the names.

[Kaka Akela]

OMG!!!! Husafar, what is wrong with you that you expect them to do such a thing as dodging taxes. NOoOO, they invest in Real Estate everywhere in the world in all big cities they have properties worth millions and Billions incl. Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkatta, London, NY, Houston, Los Angeles, Paris, switzerland and in all vacation spots. These are all bought under the umbrella of Dawat e Hadiyah which is tax-free religious and charitable organization, all the scholarships go to their own royal children. But they don't cheat on taxes.

[think]

To day London mosque looses its status as charitable organization because of its links with terrorism. Do you think bohri mosque can also fall under scrutiny from the british govt. for violating human rights ,baraat etc ,their misaak ceremony which demands a child be a slave of the clergy till his dying day, and squandering people's money on their own selves and all this under the umbrella of charitable organization.

[Humsafar]

Kaka Akela,
What you say is correct, but I'm referring to the businesses and industries they run. Not everything they own is subsumed under Dawat e Hadiya. The zadas also have their private businesses which must pay taxes. For example, they used to own the Ambassador hotel and printing preses. Another thing, Dawat e Hadiya is registered in the UK, but is it recognised in India? How do they operate in India and how do they legitimise their wealth?

[Grayson]

how do they legitimise their wealth?

Bingo. Crux of the matter. Along with, "how do they get away with it?"

[anajmi]

Consider the amount of money collected by the various famous mandirs in India. Did you know that one particular mandir makes millions of dollars just out of human hair? Legitimizing religiously gained money is probably the easiest kind of money to legitimize in India. Easier than money earned through a salary after taxes!! Churches in the US make millions of dollars. The Vatican has the economy of a small nation.

[ghulam muhammed]

How do they operate in India and how do they legitimise their wealth?

By bribing politicians of every party, don't we see their numerous photo-ops with Advani, Modi, Thackerey, Prithviraj Chauhan, Pranab Mukherjee etc etc.

[Grayson]

Consider the amount of money collected by the various famous mandirs in India. Did you know that one particular mandir makes millions of dollars just out of human hair? Legitimizing religiously gained money is probably the easiest kind of money to legitimize in India. Easier than money earned through a salary after taxes!! Churches in the US make millions of dollars. The Vatican has the economy of a small nation.

Yeah, but in Western countries? Wouldn't that be harder to get away with, for a foreign, religious (minority), non-profit (as they say) organization with so few adherents?
I'm somewhat puzzled how the IRS or any other financial regulators haven't caught any of our high priests smuggling untaxed money in, around, and out of the country. I'd like to think there are regulations in place that prevent that. They must have a pretty legit system to be able to send various priests to tax us for full profit under the umbrella of sole proprietorship and get away with it so cleanly.

[Kaka Akela]

The Dawat is not dealing in nickles & dimes, they deal in Millions of $$$$, the ameen (of dawat or the person in charge of collecting money from all jamaat in a country) sits on a pile of money and has help from Wall Street lawyers and tax preparers. They know all the loop holes better than you & me and 100 other MBAs. Transfering money from Dawat in USA to Dawat in Mumbai is allowed for a charitable organiuzation, that is no crime. Once it is in Mumbai then the tax examiners are all in the Saifee Mahal/ Badri Mahal pocket. So USA, UK, or western countries can not do anything about what goes on India after the money gets there.

[Grayson]

Thanks for the explanation.
So there's nothing technically illegal (or atleast nothing someone could easily nail them on as being against general business practices) until the money gets to India?
How very frustrating.

[ghulam muhammed]

Don't be surprised if we hear the news that the zaadas actually OWN a few small banks in some tax havens like Cayman Islands !!