What are the Paradise Papers?

Steve Love

Reading — Intermediate Level
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Read the article and answer the questions

On November 5, 2017, millions of documents (known as the "Paradise Papers") were leaked to a German newspaper and released to the public. They contain names of more than 120,000 people and companies with money in offshore bank accounts. In contrast to the Panama Papers, which involved only a single country, many countries were involved in this data leak.

By keeping their money in banks located in specific countries, knows as "tax havens" or "fiscal paradises", individuals and companies pay little or no taxes at all, avoiding the higher rates in their countries of origin. This tax evasion is illegal in most countries and punished by law.

Among the individuals mentioned are Queen Elizabeth II and President of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos. Some of the exposed companies include Facebook, Apple, Microsoft, and Nike. These companies have reportedly avoided billions of dollars in tax.
Source: Wikipedia
  1. Why do people and companies have bank accounts in tax havens or fiscal paradises?
  2. What did the Paradise Papers reveal?
  3. How many people and companies are mentioned in the Paradise Papers?
  4. How many countries were involved in the Panama Papers?
  5. Who leaked the information of the Paradise Papers?
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Discussion

Practice your writing skills by discussing the questions below

  1. What do think can be done to prevent individuals and companies from avoiding taxes using tax havens?
  2. If you won millions in the lottery, what would be the first thing you would do with the money? Why?
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