The Panama Papers reveal financial arrangements of politicians and public

figures. The Papers are an unprecedented leak of 11.5million files from the
database of the worlds fourth biggest offshore law firm, Mossack Fonseca. The
records were shared by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists
(ICIJ).
The documents show the myriad ways in which the rich can exploit secretive
offshore tax regimes. Twelve national leaders are among 143 politicians, their
families and close associates from around the world known to have been using
offshore tax havens. Offshore bank accounts are located outside a clients
country of resident, usually in tax haven territories chosen because of
financial and legal advantages. It is for the following reasons

Secrecy of information relating to the ultimate beneficiary owner.

Zero tax on income generated.

In Panama, individuals can ask for bearer shares, where the owners name

is not mentioned anywhere.

It costs little or nothing to set up an entity here.

Companies are available off-the-shelf and can be registered in a couple

of days.
The papers show that some Indians have set up offshore entities through the

Panama law firm. Some of them floated offshore entities at a time when laws
did not allow them to do so. Still, some others have received income earned
abroad and deposited it in the entity to avoid tax. Due to the rise in international
scrutiny over such jurisdictions, G-20 countries has introduced stringent antimoney laundering measures, as part of a global crackdown on tax avoidance.