The ethics of fiscal offshoring

the case of Spanish youtubers

Abstract

Emigration is a human right, nobody disputes that. However, the fact that emigration is a human right does not mean that the decision to emigrate escapes moral criticism. This article assesses the arguments levelled against so-called fiscal offshoring, which consists of relocating the professional activity to another country with the aim of paying less taxes. Specifically, it analyses the arguments from distributive justice, reciprocity, and solidarity. To this end, the case of the Spanish youtubers is compared with that of the part-time worker, the university graduate who does not work as that for which he has studied, and the hedonist rich, concluding that the only morally significant difference is that the former move to another country to pay less taxes, whereas the others do not. However, this presupposes precisely what is at stake, namely, whether fiscal offshoring is morally reprehensible.