Thin dividing line: India, Mauritius and global illicit financial flows

The use of tax havens to not just avoid payment of taxes but also evade them has attracted considerable attention across the world and in India. Tax havens, also known as low-tax or no-tax jurisdictions, enable ultra-rich individuals and corporate entities, to not pay taxes, legally and illegally. There is a thin dividing line between tax avoidance (often described as good tax planning) and tax evasion (deemed criminal in most countries). In fact, the dividing line is so thin as to be virtually non-existent. Tax havens have been used by the rich and the powerful to benefit themselves at the expense of the poor and the underprivileged. This had led to widening inequality between citizens and across countries. This book looks at the India-Mauritius Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement in a global context of growing illicit financial flows. This agreement is important because 40 per cent of total inflows of foreign money into India comes through Mauritius. Also in the book, you will read about scandals around IPL, known international companies which came under scanner for tax evasion, black money, havala and an international criminal industry employing bankers, lawyers and corrupt bureaucrats who run an economy parallel to world economy.