The Swiss Leaks affair is proving to be quite revealing – not only as to which politicians and sellers of fridges have been squirreling away their lolly in secret bank accounts, but also as regards Maltese society’s attitude towards tax evasion and dishonesty. Here’s a summary of what we learnt so far.
In the first place, tax evasion is not considered to be a big deal around here. As for MPs doing it, well, it’s almost to be expected. Mildly disappointing yes, but totally foreseeable. These are people who make lots of money and they can’t be expected to obey the law like the peasants who elect them and who trust them.
The fact that Ninu Zammit and Michael Falzon did not declare all their earnings and did not pay tax on them for decades raised a few eyebrows but it did not really rock Maltese society. Yes, way back under the fiscally-repressive 1970s and 1980s regime, Zammit and Falzon were guzzling down fine Swiss chocolate after depositing the booty, while the rest of us were gnawing on rancid Desserta bars, but that’s the way things go, isn’t it?
There’s this air of acceptance of criminal wrongdoing that is very depressing. I watched a vox pop about the revelations where interviewees were asked what they thought about the findings. One respondent – a young woman who I assumed was a University student – was very dismissive of the whole thing. “There are definitely more serious things to be tackled,” she said, “it’s a waste of time to keep going on about it”.
Widespread tax evasion was one of the major factors of the collapse of the Greek economy, so I would not be so blasé about it happening here
Oh, to be so nonchalant and dismissive of large-scale tax evasion! It is not being suggested that there are no other national priorities besides cracking down on tax evaders, but maybe it should be gently pointed out that a good part of the State’s revenue is derived from the collection of taxes. If everybody is scurrying off to Switzerland to hide it from the taxman, there’s not going to be much left to fund and support social services such as our health service, social welfare, public infrastructure, defence and education (including stipends for University students).
Widespread tax evasion was one of the major factors of the collapse of the Greek economy, so I would not be so blasé about it happening here. There’s another reason why we should be concerned about the fact that our elected representatives consciously breaking the law. And that’s the fact that there is clearly a two-tier system of justice in operation where the powerful can get away with paying minimal amount of taxes while mere mortals such as salaried employees have to pay full whack.
It’s a very discriminatory system where an individual can be fined up to €500 for filing a late tax return (plus penalties for omissions and interest for late payment) and illustrious tax evaders get off with paying a fraction of the amount they should have paid thanks to fiscal amnesties and schemes. If that’s not worrying, I don’t know what is.
Another predictable but no less depressing reaction seen from various quarters is that of turning it into a Nationalist versus Labour affair. Since the revelations involve former ministers from the Nationalist camp, the smug crowing sounds started coming over from Labour. The Nationalist cheerleaders hit back, claiming that Zammit had repatriated his fortune under a scheme granted by the Labour government last year, so it was a black spot on Labour’s record having ‘aided and abetted’, so to speak, the regularisation of Zammit’s position.
This is really clutching at straws and ‘bang-your-head-against-the-wall’ time. Party allegiance shouldn’t come into it. If the politicians you voted for were funnelling cash to other jurisdictions in breach of a zillion tax laws, you should accept the most obvious explanation – that they weren’t worthy of your trust and that being affiliated to the PN (in this case) is no guarantee of unblemished righteousness. It’s not as if any political party has the exclusive rights to the moral high ground.
Finally, some people are cooing in admiration over Falzon’s apology and praising his gentlemanly behaviour. Well I don’t know. It’s a bit late in the day for all the chest-beating and repentance, and significantly, this abject apology comes after being exposed and after a stint of being hounded by journalists who want to ask awkward questions. ‘Sorry’ is sometimes the easiest word to say.
cl.bon@nextgen.net.mt