Kenya: Lobby sues Treasury CS over 'illegal' tax deal with Mauritius Business Standard Lawsuit filed by Tax Justice Network - Africa ActionAid Asks European Investment Bank to Publish Report on Mopani Tax Evasion Zambia Reports Joint press release circulated by organisations ActionAid Zambia, … [Read more...]
Archives for 2014
Occupy is back: new protests in London
From Occupy, via email: OCCUPY IS BACK Pro-democracy campaigners will occupy Parliament Square in London for nine days next week. On October 17th Parliament Square will once again be flooded with people who will refuse to be moved. … [Read more...]
How Finland’s tax treaties contradict its development policies
Update for tax treaty aficionados: we are reminded that the Vienna Institute for International Dialogue and Cooperation (VIDC) published this study of Austrian tax treaties in April: Austrian Tax Treaties signed with Developing Countries - a Legal and Economic Analysis. From Finnwatch, a report … [Read more...]
Direct corporate welfare costs UK taxpayers £85bn a year
We recently remarked on the good work done by Good Jobs First in highlighting state-level corporate welfare in the United States. Greg Leroy of Good Jobs First also points is towards the work by the Pew Charitable Trusts to bring more transparency to federal-level subsidies and spending. Now, from … [Read more...]
Anonymous company ownership, in a picture
This is from a new Global Witness report entitled "The shell starts to crack? Real owners of Myanmar’s oil and gas blocks come forward." We like this picture because it shows, simply, how issues that are at the heart of TJN's work are so multi-faceted. Illegal logging in Asia connects with the … [Read more...]
Tanzanian MP Zitto Kabwe calls on Commonwealth to tackle illicit capital flight
This is the transcript of the presentation by Zitto Kabwe, MP United Republic of Tanzania delivered to the 60th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference Yaoundé, Cameroon, 2th – 10th October, 2014 … [Read more...]
TJN Australia demands more corporate transparency on tax
Today's edition of the Brisbane Times carries a Comment from TJN Australia's redoubtable campaigner, Dr Mark Zirnsak, responding to the backlash to the recent report on corporate tax avoidance by Australian companies. … [Read more...]
Links 9 Oct
Australian Treasurer Joe Hockey says tax cheats are 'thieves' The Sydney Morning Herald See also: ATO alleges complex Chevron scheme slashed tax bill by $258m The Sydney Morning Herald Khodorkovsky’s Contradictions The Komisar Scoop Some searching questions on offshore shell games. 56 … [Read more...]
Switzerland wants to cherry-pick “partner” countries on transparency
Updated, Oct 10, with additional analysis from the Swiss "Q and A": Switzerland has grudgingly made some important concessions on secrecy in recent years - although we've always been at pains to stess that it has happened an inch at a time, and usually bilaterally. Typically, this means making … [Read more...]
China taking multinational corporations to task on tax
This has been brewing for some time. An extensive audit has begun in China of transnational corporations (TNCs) shifting profits for service fees and management fees that are paid to related parties, often in tax havens offshore. … [Read more...]
The words ‘tax’ and ‘human rights’ – now appearing often in the same sentence
From Mauricio Lazala, Deputy Director, Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: "Recently, I participated in the annual sustainability forum of a global food & beverage company that is highly regarded for its social responsibility policies. The Chairman confidently spoke about their … [Read more...]
Publishing tax breaks and subsidies for corporations – a good idea whose time has come
The indefatigable US-based organisation Good Jobs First has sent a fascinating email, which relates to the United States but could have general relevance for other countries. This one is located at the fascinating, busy intersection between tax and transparency. The intro: "For many years, we at … [Read more...]
No it’s not your money: why taxation isn’t theft
A guest blog by Philip Goff. No it’s not your money Why taxation isn’t theft Many political arguments start from the assumption that taxation is the government taking ‘our money’ off us. When austerity hit the arts in 2011, Dr Steve Davies of the pseudo-think-tank the Institute of Economic … [Read more...]
Tax and corporate responsibility in Denmark – new report
The Danish organisation IBIS has just released a new report on tax and corporate responsibility, as part of its wider Tax Dialogue project on corporate responsibility. It maps the policies and practice with regards to corporate tax and CSR among some of the most influential corporates and investors … [Read more...]
On taxing multinationals: latest scorecard for the OECD BEPS project
The OECD's Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) process is the pre-eminent global attempt to try and stop multinational corporations running rings around the world's tax authorities. We have argued before that the OECD, a club of rich countries, has not sufficiently taken the interests of … [Read more...]
