It started 10 years ago, when a German journalist received a message from an anonymous sender: “Hello. This is John Doe. Interested in data?” What followed in the days and months after was a leak of more than 11 million files from a Panamanian law firm — the leak that came to be known as the Panama Papers when it was revealed to the world in April 2016. The confidential documents exposed hidden bank accounts, billions of dollars in shady money flows and the real owners behind thousands of offshore shell companies based in tax havens like the British Virgin Islands, the Bahamas and Panama itself. The leak also caught the attention of the world’s tax agencies, keenly aware that where there’s hidden money, there’s often unpaid tax.
Now, almost exactly nine years after the first public reports about the Panama Papers, two dozen of those national tax agencies say they’ve collected a total of $1.86 billion in tax arrears and fines as a result of information in the leak. However, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) is not among those. While its latest figures show that it has assessed $83 million in taxes and penalties so far as a result of Panama Papers-linked audits, the CRA says that, unlike many other jurisdictions, it doesn’t track how much of that it has actually collected. The full global fiscal impact of the Panama Papers is likely much higher, as many countries’ tax agencies wouldn’t divulge a precise number, while some others like the CRA could only say how much they’ve determined they’re owed and not how much they’ve actually recouped.
The tally was compiled by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, the Washington-based organization that co-ordinated the original reporting on the Panama Papers by 100 global media outlets, including CBC News. The Swedish tax agency told reporters it has recovered more than $300 million in missing taxes since 2021; France has brought in $297 million while tax collectors in Spain have managed to recoup $250 million from previously undeclared assets and income.
Source: Newsroompanama
