The true cost of gold - Lyla Latif

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Bruce Sung

Gold is one of Earth’s most valuable resources,

黃金是地球上最貴重的資源之一，

with one kilogram regularly valued at over 55,000 US dollars.

一公斤的黃金的價值 通常超過五萬五千美金。

In 2020, Mali produced an estimated 71.2 tons of gold.

2020 年，

馬利生產了估計 71.2 公噸的黃金。

But Mali only saw $850 million from gold in 2020,

但 2020 年馬利只從黃金 賺到八億五千萬美金，

when that amount is worth billions,

那產量的價值應該有數十億，

not to mention that the country likely produced much more

更不用說該國實際的產量可能 遠不只公佈出來的 71.2 公噸。

than the reported 71.2 tons.

The situation isn’t unique:

這個情況並不罕見：

a number of other gold-rich countries in Africa,

非洲其他富含黃金的國家，

including Mauritania, Senegal, Guinea, Cote d’Ivoire,

包括茅利塔尼亞、塞內加爾、

幾內亞、象牙海岸、

Ghana, Burkina Faso, and Niger

迦納、布吉納法索，及尼日，

also aren’t seeing the income they should, given the price of gold.

用黃金價格來算，它們也都 沒有得到該有的收入。

The force behind this is greed

這背後的原因就是 個人層級、企業層級、

on an individual, corporate, and national scale,

國家層級的貪婪，

and a corrupt system that perpetuates itself.

以及一直存在的腐敗體制。

Although Mali has abundant gold,

雖然馬利有很豐富的黃金，

the country lacks the infrastructure to mine and export it.

卻沒有基礎設施來開採和出口黃金。

So the government allows multinational corporations to apply for licenses

所以，馬利政府允許 多國企業申請執照，

to mine gold in exchange for taxes paid to Mali’s government.

開採黃金，換取它們 支付給馬利政府的稅款。

These taxes should, theoretically, finance development,

理論上，這些稅款 應該用來資助國家發展，

like building the infrastructure to mine gold, improve the economy,

比如建造基礎來開採黃金、

改善經濟，

and provide citizens with public goods like healthcare and education.

以及提供公共財給公民， 比如健康照護及教育。

Tax money alone isn’t enough to do these things, of course:

當然，光靠稅款是不夠做這些事的：

a government also has to be invested in its people’s well-being,

政府也需要其他資金 投資在其人民的福祉上，

and government corruption can prevent progress.

且政府腐敗可能會成為進步的阻礙。

But without adequate funds,

但若沒有足夠資金，

even the best intentioned government doesn’t stand a chance

就算政府有最好的意圖，

也沒有機會改善其公民的境況。

of improving circumstances for its citizens.

Foreign corporations exploit Mali’s need for tax revenue

外國大公司利用 馬利對於稅收的需求，

to get the government to sign on to very unfavorable yet perfectly legal contracts.

讓政府簽下非常不利

卻完全合法的合約。

For example, one such contract stated that no corporate taxes would be owed

比如，

有一份這種合約就約定， 在前五年都不能課公司稅，

for the first five years, costing Mali millions in tax revenue.

讓馬利損失數百萬美金的稅收。

Meanwhile, mining licenses sometimes allow these corporations to take samples of gold

同時，

採礦執照有時會允許這些大公司

可以把黃金樣本帶出國，不用登記，

out of the country without registering them

or paying taxes on them.

也不用支付相關稅款。

These should be small amounts of gold used to test for quality,

樣本應該是少量的黃金， 用來做品質檢測，

but the license doesn’t limit the size of samples,

但執照中沒有對樣本的量設定限制，

so this creates a loophole

這就造成了漏洞，

where corporations export large amounts of gold without paying any tax.

讓大公司可以出口大量黃金，

卻什麼稅都不用付。

The multinational corporations are also evading taxes

跨國公司

也在設法逃避法律規定要繳納的稅。

they are legally required to pay.

They filter profits through a labyrinth of tax havens that’s difficult to trace.

它們透過難以追蹤的 避稅港迷宮來過濾利潤。

Or they exaggerate their expenses so they end up owing very little in taxes.

或者，它們會誇大費用， 最後欠的稅款就非常少。

For instance, a corporation in Mali uses a subsidiary in Ireland

比如，馬利有一家公司 用愛爾蘭的子公司

to manage its operations and another subsidiary in the Netherlands

來管理它的營運，

並用荷蘭的另一家子公司 來授權其品牌名稱。

to license its brand name.

The corporation in Mali pays management fees to the Irish subsidiary

馬利的公司支付管理費 給愛爾蘭的子公司，

and pays intellectual property license fees to the Dutch company,

並支付智慧財產授權費 給荷蘭的公司，

all for enormous sums.

總金額都很大。

These costs are deducted from overall profits,

整體利潤會把這些成本扣除，

leaving the amount subject to taxes at a bare minimum.

讓需要課稅的金額減到最低。

These companies also buy gold on the black market.

這些公司也會在黑市買黃金。

Local, small-scale miners often operate without a license,

當地的小型開採業者 通常都會無照營運，

so the government is unaware of how much gold they mine.

因此政府不知道它們開採了多少。

Corporations buy gold from these miners,

大公司向這些開採業者購買黃金，

avoiding the cost of mining the gold themselves,

省去自己開採黃金的成本，

and pay the miners far below market value.

付給開採業者的價格 遠低於市場價值。

Then they turn around and tell the government

接著，它們回頭就告訴政府 它們產生了大量的費用，

they incurred huge expenses mining gold they didn’t mine at all.

用在開採根本不是它們開採的黃金。

There’s no way for Mali’s revenue authority to verify this information,

馬利的稅收管理機關 不可能去驗證這類資訊，

causing the country to lose even more tax money.

導致馬利又損失更多稅收。

Similarly, corporations pay corrupt government officials

同樣的，

大公司會賄賂腐敗的政府官員 協助它們將黃金走私出國，

to help them smuggle gold across borders, primarily to the United Arab Emirates,

主要走私到阿拉伯聯合大公國，

rather than operating through legal channels.

而不是透過合法管道來營運。

In 2016, Mali reported around $200 million of exported gold,

2016 年，

馬利公佈出口的黃金 大約有兩億美金，

but the UAE reported receiving slightly over $1.5 billion of imported gold

但同年，阿拉伯聯合大公國公佈

從馬利進口的黃金 有略多於十五億美金。

from Mali that same year.

The gold is then sold to European, American, and Asian markets from the UAE,

接著，阿拉伯聯合大公國的這些黃金

會再被賣到歐洲、 美國，及亞洲的市場，

with no questions asked about its origins.

且不會被過問黃金來源。

Similar patterns can be seen with gold-rich countries across Africa,

在非洲各地有豐富黃金的國家 都看得到類似的模式。

indicating that gold smuggling is happening on a massive scale,

顯示現在黃金走私的規模相當可觀，

without ever being subject to taxes.

完全不會被課稅。

All of this creates a vicious cycle,

這一切造成了惡性循環，

forcing a continued reliance

導致必須要持續仰賴大公司， 即造成這個情況的始作俑者。

on the corporations that helped create the situation in the first place.

More than half of Mali’s citizens live below the international poverty line,

一半以上的馬利公民過著 低於國際貧窮線的生活，

while their nation’s wealth lines the pockets of foreign corporations

而國家的財富

卻都在外國大公司和貪官的口袋中。

and corrupt officials.