A free zone where companies are offered to pay 0% tax has nothing to do with a tax haven, according to the boss of the Caisse de depot et placement du Québec (CDPQ).
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“A free zone is not the same thing as a tax haven”, answered Charles Emond, big boss of the Caisse de depot, when The newspaper asked him if his investment of 2.5 billion US dollars last June in the free zone of Jebel Ali was in line with the commitments of the Caisse.
“It’s a different element to having a tax haven in the Cayman Islands,” he added.
Although the Caisse pledges to oppose “any form of tax evasion”, last year it took a 22% stake in the port of Jebel Ali, which has a “government policy to attract investment “, according to Emond.
Court of convenience
On its website, the port of Jebel Ali, in the United Arab Emirates, highlights its tax rate of 0% on companies and 0% on personal income.
However, for Alain Deneault, author of Tax havens: the Canadian channelthe fact of investing billions of dollars in this type of project is unequivocal.
“We play on words. It is a jurisdiction of convenience which allows the dumping tax”, points out the expert.
“When the financial body of the Quebec government endorses this type of policy, it harms a state like Quebec itself,” he concludes.