Pandora Papers: Sachin Tendulkar, Anil Ambani among celebrities to have used offshore tax havens

[nevada]

Businesspersons Anil Ambani and Kiran Mazumdar Shaw and cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar are among world leaders, public officials and celebrities who have been named in a list of people who allegedly used global tax havens to stash their assets from government scrutiny, The Indian Express reported on Sunday. Globally, prominent persons who allegedly used such havens include Pakistan Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin, Jordan’s King Abdullah II and pop singer Shakira.  The revelations are based on over 11.9 million confidential documents from 14 offshore service firms that allegedly set up shell companies for clients seeking to keep their financial activities discreet. These shell companies were set up in tax havens such as Dubai, Monaco, Panama and Switzerland.

[velu]

as long as they are doing it legally , its ok ..

[sandeep]

anybody who has money, is going to want to protect it from extra taxes.  

[mishra]

I am a bit confused and have started to Question as why suddenly such papers get leaked, iirc this is third time in past few years.

 

On RT, conspiracy theorist once explained about capitalist driven economy and crisis, Idea is to shake the boat, so some people fall and less stay on boat

Edited October 4, 2021 by mishra

[diga]

Quote

 

Not sure how true this is .. but regional parties & congress finding loop holes in our taxation & exploiting it is worrying for a govt inclined on tax compliance

[rangeelaraja]

18 hours ago, sandeep said:

anybody who has money, is going to want to protect it from extra taxes.  

 

What is the definition of “extra taxes “ ?

 When the salaried middle class pays 30 % tax     directly deducted from their paycheck - why can’t someone who has made 100s of millions of dollars pay his fair share ?
 

Sachin may be a great cricketer and his money is certainly hard earned through legitimate means - but inspite the 100s of millions of dollars he has made - his avarice for more and more is pretty naked and disgusting and classless —always has been. 
 

Still remember that episode where he expected a tax waiver on a Ferrari because it was a “gift” but he had no qualms selling that  “gift “ for gain. 
 

https://m.economictimes.com/sachin-tendulkar-sells-ferrari-received-from-schumacher-invites-wrath-of-fans-on-social-networking-sites/articleshow/8982750.cms

 

Have seen numerous instances where he has sought privileges and favors that are reserved for VVIPs 

 

Yet his PR tries to assiduously project  the image of a “ simple “ man - the “simple “ man who would not lose any opportunity to avoid paying his fair share to the exchequer of the country that has given him everything. 
 

The Bharat Ratna’s stature was tarnished forever when Sachin got it by sucking up to the most corrupt Congress govt under Manmohan Singh. 
 

Imagine this Vishwanathan Anand  - a 5 time World Chess Champion —-  a game played by every nation on the planet gets only a Padma Vibhushan, while Sachin gets the Bharat Ratna for a sport played seriously by 10 former commonwealth countries. Bloody joke. 

 

Anand’s achievement is 100 times Sachin. 
 

And Anand is actually super  humble - no entitlement - no mask of  fake modesty or fake patriotism. 

Heck even Vikram Sarabhai - the co-founder of ISRO and IIM - Ahmedabad - 2 of India’s priceless Crown Jewels - doesn’t get Bharat Ratna but a serial tax evader like Sachin does. 
 

 

 

Edited October 5, 2021 by rangeelaraja

[bharathh]

51 minutes ago, rangeelaraja said:

 

What is the definition of “extra taxes “ ?

 When the salaried middle class pays 30 % tax     directly deducted from their paycheck - why can’t someone who has made 100s of millions of dollars pay his fair share ?
 

Sachin may be a great cricketer and his money is certainly hard earned through legitimate means - but inspite the 100s of millions of dollars he has made - his avarice for more and more is pretty naked and disgusting and classless —always has been. 
 

Still remember that episode where he expected a tax waiver on a Ferrari because it was a “gift” but he had no qualms selling that  “gift “ for gain. 
 

https://m.economictimes.com/sachin-tendulkar-sells-ferrari-received-from-schumacher-invites-wrath-of-fans-on-social-networking-sites/articleshow/8982750.cms

 

Have seen numerous instances where he has sought privileges and favors that are reserved for VVIPs 

 

Yet his PR tries to assiduously project  the image of a “ simple “ man - the “simple “ man who would not lose any opportunity to avoid paying his fair share to the exchequer of the country that has given him everything. 
 

The Bharat Ratna’s stature was tarnished forever when Sachin got it by sucking up to the most corrupt Congress govt under Manmohan Singh. 
 

Imagine this Vishwanathan Anand  - a 5 time World Chess Champion —-  a game played by every nation on the planet gets only a Padma Vibhushan, while Sachin gets the Bharat Ratna for a sport played seriously by 10 former commonwealth countries. Bloody joke. 

 

Anand’s achievement is 100 times Sachin. 
 

And Anand is actually super  humble - no entitlement - no mask of  fake modesty or fake patriotism. 

Heck even Vikram Sarabhai - the co-founder of ISRO and IIM - Ahmedabad - 2 of India’s priceless Crown Jewels - doesn’t get Bharat Ratna but a serial tax evader like Sachin does. 
 

 

 

Sad but true. That Ferrari incident forever tarnished his reputation as a good man.

[beetle]

8 minutes ago, bharathh said:

Sad but true. That Ferrari incident forever tarnished his reputation as a good man.

People would have forgiven and forgotten if it was not followed by other incidences. Like trying to get concession for his friend who encroached on defence land in uttarakhand.

 

He along with Amitabh Bachchan get too much respect that they don't deserve.

 

 

[Mariyam]

1 hour ago, bharathh said:

Sad but true. That Ferrari incident forever tarnished his reputation as a good man.

Why? Sachin didn't buy the car.

 

He was initially granted an exemption. Duty on the vehicle was around 122% of the cost of the vehicle. On BCCI's insistence ( Dalmiya, me thinks) to the GoI he was granted an exemption. Rule in India was that had it been won in a series as a man of the tournament or whatever, GoI would have granted the exemption. But this was in lieu of beating Bradman's record or something of the sort. It was a grey area.

There was a huge hue and cry about it in the media ( uncalled for in my opinion) and the Govt reneged on the exemption and asked him to cough up the amount.

FIAT paid his dues for him. Its only after wards was he allowed to pick it up from the Ports Authority of India.

 

After he sold it a business person from Gujarat, he would have paid a capital gains tax on the proceeds. Not very sure here , but certain l luxury vehicles are counted as depreciating assets and draw a capital gains tax on sale. So why exactly is his image tarnished?

Edited October 5, 2021 by Mariyam

[Mariyam]

34 minutes ago, beetle said:

People would have forgiven and forgotten if it was not followed by other incidences. Like trying to get concession for his friend who encroached on defence land in uttarakhand.

 

He along with Amitabh Bachchan get too much respect that they don't deserve.

 

Another way to look at it: He was lobbying for the concessions for the said plot. In our democracy there is nothing illegal or unethical about it.

Yes, we don't have rules regulating lobbying but it is a prevalent practice in the country. And it should be.

 

Why should we hold it against him for trying?

 

 

[beetle]

2 hours ago, Mariyam said:

Another way to look at it: He was lobbying for the concessions for the said plot. In our democracy there is nothing illegal or unethical about it.

Yes, we don't have rules regulating lobbying but it is a prevalent practice in the country. And it should be.

 

Why should we hold it against him for trying?

 

 

Or he was just trying to get his friend to encroach on defence land . That land was not for sale . 

 

We should hold it against him because he misued his position as a Rajyasabha member  to try and  help his friend with illegal activity.

 

Lobbying is not legal in our country. It may be prevalent practice....but so is tax evasion, bribery etc. Prevalence does'nt make illegal acceptable.

 

What next...lobby to let friends get away with tax evasion, frauds , cons etc ....

Edited October 5, 2021 by beetle

[coffee_rules]

Tax evasion is an all class problem, not just the rich. A lot of land registration is under-valued on paper , while in reality it will be much much more that is exchanging hands. Cutting corners is a human trait.

[rangeelaraja]

12 minutes ago, coffee_rules said:

Tax evasion is an all class problem, not just the rich. A lot of land registration is under-valued on paper , while in reality it will be much much more that is exchanging hands. Cutting corners is a human trait.

 

You are confusing Tax Avoidance with Tax evasion.

 

Tax avoidance is legal, tax evasion is illegal

[coffee_rules]

6 minutes ago, rangeelaraja said:

 

You are confusing Tax Avoidance with Tax evasion.

 

Tax avoidance is legal, tax evasion is illegal

How is it legal? That extra untaxed money they pocket is all "black"

[rangeelaraja]

1 minute ago, coffee_rules said:

How is it legal? That extra untaxed money they pocket is all "black"

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/t/tax_avoidance.asp

[coffee_rules]

6 minutes ago, rangeelaraja said:

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/t/tax_avoidance.asp

This I know. But the example I indicated (diff registration value from real value of the sale) is not tax avoidance. It is illegal. but that is carried on with impunity in India

[rangeelaraja]

4 minutes ago, coffee_rules said:

This I know. But the example I indicated (diff registration value from real value of the sale) is not tax avoidance. It is illegal. but that is carried on with impunity in India

Hmm, is this “ common man” conduct expected of a   “ Bharat Ratna”   ? 

[Mariyam]

2 hours ago, beetle said:

Or he was just trying to get his friend to encroach on defence land . That land was not for sale . 

 

We should hold it against him because he misued his position as a Rajyasabha member  to try and  help his friend with illegal activity.

 

Lobbying is not legal in our country. It may be prevalent practice....but so is tax evasion, bribery etc. Prevalence does'nt make illegal acceptable.

 

What next...lobby to let friends get away with tax evasion, frauds , cons etc ....

IIRC that land in contention was near defence land or was land marked for defence uses but not defence land hitherto.

Also, there is *nothing* illegal in lobbying. So just because he is/was a Rajya Sabha member he should forego an opportunity to lobby?

 

There is no tax evasion/fraud etc here.

[Mariyam]

Also there is *nothing* even remotely illegal in what Kiran Mazumdar Shaw has done. Please tell me what wrong has she done?

 

If you were to read the Indian Express headline on Pandora files, you'd think she is a con artist extraordinaire.

This is how sensationalised media outlets taint job creators in this country and get away scot free.

[beetle]

7 minutes ago, Mariyam said:

IIRC that land in contention was near defence land or was land marked for defence uses but not defence land hitherto.

Also, there is *nothing* illegal in lobbying. So just because he is/was a Rajya Sabha member he should forego an opportunity to lobby?

 

There is no tax evasion/fraud etc here.

The land was not for encroachment or sale. It was for defence use.

 

Lobbying is not legal in India. Lobbying for a personal friend is probably not legal even in countries where lobbying is legal.

Lobbying to help a friend encroach on defence use / public land would / should be criminal in many countries 

 

There is no ethical or legal grounds for going to the defence minister to help his encroacher friend's case. That is misuse of his position and trust as RS member.