Diamonds going cheap Zimbabwe MP James Maridadi has been holding the government’s feet to the fire over suspiciously low tax revenues generated by Zimbabwe’s mining sector. According to the MP the last budget statement predicts that the government will gain no revenue from diamond mining. … [Read more...]
Archives for 2015
Links Mar 17
Banks Say “Thanks for the Bailout,” Now We’ll Park our Profits in Overseas Tax Havens AllGov Tax Justice in Europe - time to stop hiding and start acting ActionAid UK: ‘Hard core’ tax dodgers to face strong crackdown Financial Times (paywall) Tax Cheat Hid $300 Million In Swiss Accounts … [Read more...]
Six questions about HSBC and the Jersey connection
From the BBC in Jersey: "HSBC is closing all accounts in Jersey for customers living in the UK, as part of industry-wide efforts to check identity and address details, to ensure off-shore accounts aren't being used to hide money. Jersey's Chief Minister Ian Gorst insists that banks have to … [Read more...]
New study outlines trillions handed out in U.S. corporate welfare bonanza
From Good Jobs First in the U.S., a new study looking at the many and varied grants, tax credits and subsidies harvested by large companies. (Also see our Taxcast interview of Greg Leroy, along with an interview with Kevin Farnsworth, who has done similar work on corporate welfare for the … [Read more...]
Small countries, big banks: is Andorra the new Cyprus?
Our quote of the day comes from the introductory paragraph of a Reuters story: "With Andorra now added to the list, how many more examples do we need to see the folly of combining a small country with a large banking system?" That's our quote of the day. The lead angle of the story is one of … [Read more...]
European Trade Unions Congress on tackling tax evasion, avoidance and tax havens
The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) was established in 1973 to represent workers and their national affiliates at the European level. It has just adopted the following resolution on tackling tax evasion, avoidance and tax havens. … [Read more...]
Links Mar 16
Special committee on tax dumping in the EU has started Sven Giegold Africa’s top billionaire uses Malta shell companies to hold diamonds ‘conflict’ Malta Today "Daughter of Angola’s president, Isabel dos Santos, uses Malta shell companies to hold her major interests in state-owned diamonds, … [Read more...]
Where did Zimbabwe’s diamond revenues go?
From Tax Justice Network Africa, via its Afritax feed, a video showing a Zimbabwean member of parliament, James Maridadi, taking the Minister of Finance to task on revenue from Marange Diamonds. The brief exchange is worth watching, not least for the Minister's evasive manoeuvres. But it's … [Read more...]
Pulling the plug: how to stop corporate tax dodging in Europe and beyond
From Oxfam, a new report whose headline we've copied. As the introduction notes: "Making tax fair is one of the key solutions if we want to tackle the growing problem of inequality. Data from 40 countries shows the potential of well-designed, redistributive taxation and corresponding … [Read more...]
In the next taxcast: democracy for sale, via tax havens
Another day, another political party funding scandal. This time it's (again!) the UK, and its third largest party the Liberal Democrats. We will start with a quote. “Tax-haven lobbyists and beneficiaries have captured and corrupted our party political fundraising.” That's not us saying … [Read more...]
Links Mar 13
The Passport King: Christian Kalin's business is showing poor countries they have at least one resource worth selling: citizenship. Bloomberg What Directives Were Given To HSBC Staff? Financial Times (paywall) HSBC's Swiss private bank: French prosecutor formally requests trial The … [Read more...]
City of London helps UK ‘betray’ US again: this time it’s over China
A year ago today's TJN blogger wrote an article for The American Interest magazine entitled Putin, the U.S. and the City of London: The Much-Too-Special-Relationship. It made the bold statement: “The truth is that the City of London is a greater potential threat to the national security of the … [Read more...]
Quote of the day: the Irish template for corporate bullying
Yesterday, we re-posted a blog about the Irish Celtic Tiger myth from the Fool's Gold site to the Naked Capitalism blog. The blog seeks to debunk the myth that tax "competition" was crucial to Ireland's development in the 1980s and 1990s. … [Read more...]
Did Ireland’s 12.5 percent corporate tax rate create the Celtic Tiger?
From the Fools' Gold Blog, a new TJN-backed project on 'competitiveness'. This article has also been cross-posted with Naked Capitalism. Update 2, 2020: New World Bank measures of wellbeing show Ireland lagging significantly behind its major European peers. Update 1, 2019: This issue is explored … [Read more...]
First newsletter of the Global Alliance for Tax Justice
This is the first newsletter of the Global Alliance for Tax Justice. For the full version, with images, click here. To sign up for GATJ's newsletter, please click here. Welcome to the first newsletter of the Global Alliance for Tax Justice (versión en español abajo). Happy International … [Read more...]
