FATHOMING TAX HAVENS CLIMATE THROUGH A CONSEQUENTIALIST VERSUS A DEONTOLOGICAL MORAL LENS

By means of an extensive methodological apparatus including analysis of chain base indexes, comparisons, syntheses and case studies, literature review of scientific articles, books or official documents released by international organizations and national agencies, viz. World Bank, OECD, Tax Justice Network, U.S. Internal Revenue Service, U.S. Government Accountability Office, UK HM Revenue & Customs, Christian Aid, the present paper assesses tax havens climate through a consequentialist vs. a deontological moral lens, approach which to our knowledge has not been tackled before. Thus, it offers a variety of consequentialist and deontological judgments on naysayers and yea-sayers to tax havens climates. Adding a philosopher’s eye to an economist’s view regarding the morality of tax havens and appraising main aspects based on unprejudiced multidisciplinary evaluation, this article tries to umpire all voices, making the case that the morality of international financial centers is not a resolute one. Therefore, it should be discussed, analyzed and understood according to different perspectives of morality and parties involved: international bodies, non-tax haven countries and their citizens, tax havens, foreign investors in offshore businesses.