Turkish wealthy store $158bln in offshore bank accounts

PanARMENIAN.Net - The amount of money stored in offshore bank accounts by Turkey's wealthiest individuals and businesses is worth $158 billion, says a report by the UK-based financial transparency group Tax Justice Network.

According to Today’s Zaman, the report, prepared by former chief economist at consulting firm McKinsey and tax haven expert James Henry, tracked the growth in offshore funds around the world and estimates that the $158 billion in non-taxable Turkish funds is part of the staggering $21 trillion to $32 trillion which was held globally by the world's wealthiest individuals and corporations in tax havens at the end of 2010.

That amount is more than the combined annual gross domestic product (GDP) of the world's two largest economies, the United States and China, and does not include non-liquid assets often owned through offshore means including real estate, yachts, racing horses and other high-expense possessions. Taxing just 3 percent - equivalent to the interest earned off many such accounts - of the $21 trillion at 30 percent would garner “roughly $189bn a year, more than rich economies spend on aid to the rest of the world.”

Turkey's $158 billion share of the tax-free pie is likely to make Ankara despair no less than other governments over lost tax revenue, given that the $158 billion in assets overshadows both Turkey's entire foreign reserves, estimated at $110 billion, and the country's central bank funds, which are said to total $97 billion.