How Delaware Thrives as a Corporate Tax Haven

By LESLIE WAYNE
Published: June 30, 2012
NY Times

1209 North Orange, you see, is the legal address of no fewer than 285,000 separate businesses.

Big corporations, small-time businesses, rogues, scoundrels and worse — all have turned up at Delaware addresses in hopes of minimizing taxes, skirting regulations, plying friendly courts or, when needed, covering their tracks. Federal authorities worry that, in addition to the legitimate businesses flocking here, drug traffickers, embezzlers and money launderers are increasingly heading to Delaware, too. It’s easy to set up shell companies here, no questions asked.