Bermuda The Treasure Island（在线收听）

When you think of the islands, you probably picture beaches and palm trees and green golf courses. But many American citizens and companies see ¹⁾a different kind of green there, money. This week, the ²⁾IRS revealed two million Americans may be using ³⁾offshore credit cards to access secret hidden income. Meanwhile, more and more American businesses are using the island as a tax haven. Some twelve thousand international corporations have a presence on Bermuda alone. 

It’s the new trend in corporate accounting. ⁴⁾Incorporate your company in Bermuda and save millions of dollars a year in taxes. Tyco, the global conglomorate, has space in this small office building even though most of its operations are here in New Hampshire. Global Crossing, the telecom company, has four employees at its world headquarters. Here’s the real operation, in Beverly Hills. Ingersoll-Rand the industrial equipment maker, expects to save 40 million dollars a year in taxes after moving into Verasta Bermuda last year but keeping its operations in New Jersey. And others are following.

This tiny island off the North Carolina coast, just 21 square miles, is now home to more than twelve thousand offshore companies. Up more than 20 per cent in the last three years. This can be positively maddening in countries whose taxes these companies are trying to escape. Like the United States, where the Internal Revenue Service has estimated some 70 billion dollars a year in tax revenue is lost to tax havens like this one.

Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D Texas): There are billions and billions of dollars that we all have to make up for as ordinary tax payers that are being lost to the treasury, and it’s really unfortunate.

The Bush administration agreed to study the explosion in companies moving offshore.  But officials say the real problem may not be in Bermuda but in the US. 

Marx Weinberger (Asst. Treasury Secretary for Tax Policy): We have a tax system for example that, we’re practically the only one in the civilized world, that taxes all income, no matter where it’s earned and most all foreign ⁵⁾jurisdictions only tax business income within their borders and so some companies may look at that.

C. Eugene Cox (Bermuda Finance Minister): You can avoid tax, but that’s not a crime, it’s when you evade taxes you get into the technicalities where you’re committing an offense.

And the companies that are incorporating here he says, are playing by the rules.

Cox: The people that come here, they’re not doing anything illegal, they’re looking for the ⁶⁾professionalism that they find, they’re looking for the ⁷⁾infrastructure that is here.

Bermuda does have a long history as a ⁸⁾legitimate business center with tough ⁹⁾anti-fraud and money ¹⁰⁾laundering laws. Bermuda’s insurance companies are among the most reliable in the world. They began setting up shop here in the 1960s to escape the web of state insurance regulations in the US. But their headquarters here are real. Real Bermuda businesses with real Bermuda employees. It’s the new wave of companies that are threatening Bermuda’s hard won reputation. Global Crossing and Globalstar Telecommunications both bankrupt. Tyco International and Elan ¹¹⁾Pharmaceuticals under fire for their accounting. At Bermuda’s central bank which screens every company that seeks to incorporate here they’re double checking their systems trying to make certain a Bermuda address doesn’t become a black mark. CE

11、百慕大—金银岛

提起海岛，你脑海中也许会浮现出一幅海滩、棕榈树和翠绿的高尔夫球场的画面。然而许多美国人以及美国公司却会想到另一种绿色的东西——钱。美国国税局本周公布，约有两百万美国人在用海外信用卡来获取秘密收入。同时，越来越多的美国企业将海岛当作避税港。仅在百慕大群岛上就有一万两千家国际公司设立了办事处。

公司会计的新趋势是——在百慕大岛上注册公司，一年能节省下数百万美元的税款。Tyco公司是一家环球公司，它的办事处设在岛上一幢小办公楼内，而它的大部分业务则在新汉普郡经营。而电信公司Global Crossing位于百慕大的全球总部才有四名职员，而它真正的办事处在贝弗利山。英格索兰公司是一家工业器材制造商，去年在百慕大注册公司，而大部分生意仍在新泽西经营，预计一年能从税款中省下四千万美元。其他许多公司都在纷纷效仿。

百慕大与美国北卡罗莱纳州隔海相望，面积仅二十一平方英里，但现在却有一万两千家公司，该数字三年内增长了百分之二十。在许多国家，公司利用海外注册来避税的情况越来越普遍。比如说在美国，据美国国税局估计，一年有七百亿美元的税款流失到了诸如百慕大岛的避税港。

劳埃·多格特（美国国会来自德州的民主党众议员）∶我们必须向普通纳税者征收数十亿、数百亿美元来填补国库的亏空，这是非常不幸的。

布什政府同意开始着手研究海外注册公司激增的情况。但是有关官员说，真正的问题并不在百慕大而在美国本身。

马克斯·温伯格（主管税收政策的财政部副部长）：比如，美国的税收系统实际上在全球是独一无二的，我们对所有的收入都征税，不管它是在哪里挣得的。大部分外国税收部门只对国内的商业收入收税，所以许多公司都会看到这一点。

尤金·考克斯（百慕大财政部长）∶你可以避税，那不是犯罪。但如果你动用手段逃税就是违法的了。

他还说，在百慕大注册的公司都遵守着这条规则。

考克斯：人们来这里不是违法的，他们到这里取己所需，利用这里的基层架构。

百慕大作为一个合法的商业中心已久负盛名，它的法律严厉制裁欺诈和洗钱行为。百慕大的保险公司在全世界享有极高的声誉。它们于二十世纪六十年代在这里成立，躲避美国繁琐的国家保险规章。它们的的确确在这里设有总部，确实在这里雇请职员经营业务。而新起的公司损害了百慕大好不容易才建立起来的声誉：Global Crossing和国际卫星电话服务公司都破产了。Tyco和Elan 医药公司正为清算帐目而头疼。百慕大中央银行对在这里注册的每家公司都要进行调查，并复查它们的制度，以确保百慕大的地址不会蒙污。CE