So the next round of Luxleaks is with us. Corporate tax avoidance, as the chair of the UK's Public Accounts Committee put it, "on an industrial scale." We post an array of stories below, and will write more about this in due course. As it happens, Luxembourg is likely getting it in the neck … [Read more...]
Archives for 2014
Links Dec 9
Preventing tax evasion and fraud: the scope for automatic exchange of information is extended: Council of the European Union Directive on Administrative Cooperation has been approved by the EU Council. For background see here. Australia: Tax advocates rally behind disclosure rules The Age See … [Read more...]
Corporate tax cuts don’t work
That's the headline of a short article in the current edition of The World Today, the flagship publication of London-based think tank Chatham House. An excerpt: … [Read more...]
OECD: tax does not harm economic growth, but inequality does
The OECD has produced a welcome new report whose core statement is probably this one: "New OECD research shows that when income inequality rises, economic growth falls." Now that's not a new finding, but there's been a lot of controversy in this area for years and this is the latest study … [Read more...]
Financing development: NGO input for the UN meeting in 2015
Via Eurodad, a position paper on Financing for Development, co-signed by TJN and over 130 other civil society organisations. The paper is entitled UN Financing for Development negotiations: What outcomes should be agreed in Addis Ababa in 2015? and it seeks to provide input from civil society … [Read more...]
Some quotes of the week: don’t sign OECD tax treaties
Via Martin Hearson, who has done a useful new blog on Uganda's tax treaties entitled Uganda’s tax treaties: a legal and historical analysis. The article is by Mr. Hearson (of the London School of Economics) and Jalia Kangave of the East African School of Taxation. For aficionados of tax and … [Read more...]
The Offshore Wrapper: a week in tax justice #43
If you want to break the law, ask a lawyer It is not often that this hardheaded Wrapper reporter goes weak at the knees with anticipation. But last week, it emerged that the UK’s Solicitor’s Regulation Authority is investigating what a senior manager there described as “genuinely shocking” cases … [Read more...]
Jean-Claude Juncker must push through EU directive on money-laundering
Via The Guardian, a letter co-signed by some TJNers. Update: a slightly longer list of signatories in the EU Observer, here. An investigation by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism is here, containing an underwhelming response from Juncker. Jean-Claude Juncker must push through EU … [Read more...]
Links Dec 8
Corporate tax cuts don’t work Chatham House, The Royal Institute of International Affairs ICIJ calls for immediate release of arrested Azeri reporter Khadija Ismayilova #FreeKhadija See also: Prominent Azerbaijani Journalist Sent To Two-Month Pretrial Detention Radio Free Europe, and recent … [Read more...]
Links Dec 5
EU parliament studies tax avoidance in member states Luxemburger Wort See also: Pro-Juncker coalition blocks committee of inquiry on Luxleaks EurActiv, and Juncker’s Sound of Silence Project Syndicate Malta should brace itself for tax haven clampdown Malta Today India must show valid proof … [Read more...]
Its OK to avoid tax – we give to charity, and other b****cks!
Now here's a tricky public relations issue for our times: how does a band like Take That rebuild its image after being exposed as serial tax avoiders? The Guardian's Lost in Showbiz grapples with the problem, in light of the weak apology tweeted by Take That's Gary Barlow: “I want to apologise to … [Read more...]
Dear Bundesfinanzminister Schäuble – please don’t block public registries
European transparency and anti-corruption campaigning organisations have sent the following letter to German finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble requesting that his government should support demands by the European Parliament that information about the ultimate beneficial owners (the true, … [Read more...]
UK’s proposed “Google Tax”: jumping the gun?
Blog from Professor Sol Picciotto, Senior Adviser to TJN The UK Chancellor of the Exchequer / Finance Minister George Osborne (pictured) on Wednesday announced that he will introduce a `diverted profits’ tax next spring. His `autumn statement’ included this short announcement: "The government … [Read more...]
British comedian Russell Brand on tax havens and hypocrisy
The UK tax havens and broken promises
By Rosie Sharpe, Money Laundering Campaigner at Global Witness. There’s been much progress recently in requiring companies to put the names of the people who own and control them – their so-called beneficial owners – into the public domain. This is really important to tackle the devastation … [Read more...]
