Jolyon Maugham, a UK tax barrister, has written a useful blog looking at promises the UK coalition government made before the last election about getting its offshore satellites to curb financial secrecy -- and then he has compared those promises to the actions that have been taken since then. Do … [Read more...]
Archives for 2015
Who ultimately pays the corporate income tax? (Again.)
We have written many times about the 'incidence' (or, if you like) burden of the corporate income tax. When you tax corporations, who ultimately pays it: the workers, through lower wages? The consumers, through higher prices? Or is it the shareholders and owners of capital? It's a crucial … [Read more...]
Links Nov 12
Bangladeshi rights groups demand Tax Transparency Global Alliance for Tax Justice Brazil lower house passes amnesty for unreported offshore assets Reuters Australia: Senate repeals tax secrecy law after 'astroturf' revelations Cootamundra Herald "It's a great day for democracy when a sneaky … [Read more...]
Crickhowell and the tax rebellion: the mouse that roared?
Update: the Crickhowell activists have set up a new website: Fair Tax Town. We're delighted to see that a forthcoming BBC TV programme will highlight a major tax injustice that we have long drawn attention to: that multinational corporations are killing small businesses partly by being able to … [Read more...]
How Ireland became an offshore financial centre
This month we published our fourth Financial Secrecy Index (FSI), complete with a series of reports about each of the biggest tax havens and secrecy jurisdictions, looking into the political and economic histories of how and why they went offshore, who was involved, and where the bodies are … [Read more...]
Links Nov 10
Who runs our countries: us, or global finance? Fools' Gold - rethinking competition UK’s bank levy reforms will cost £4.2bn in tax over 5 years Fools' Gold - rethinking competition G20 Among Biggest Losers in Large-Scale Tax Abuse but Poor Countries Relatively Hardest Hit Oxfam Great new … [Read more...]
Still Broken: major new report on global corporate tax cheating
Update, Dec 7, 2015: a new paper in the Journal of World Business, which contains this: "Home country statutory corporate tax rates have a small impact on tax haven use. In general, corporate tax rates are an important factor in driving MNEs to set up tax haven subsidiaries. However, … [Read more...]
Guest blog: sun, sea, sand, tourism and fantasy finance
Where are you going on your next holiday? The chances are if you are flying to a Sun&Sea destination, it will be with a tax-dodging company. A guest blog by Linda Ambrosie. Listen to her on the Taxcast here. Do you recognize any of these names: Barceló, TUI or Melía?. In … [Read more...]
Links Nov 9
#Luxleaks protest in support of whistleblowers Video: Tax campaigners protesting outside the European Commission and Council, in support of the whistleblowers who exposed the Luxleaks scandal, and against tax dodging multinational corporations. Internal EU Documents: How the Benelux Blocked … [Read more...]
Links Nov 6
Video summaries of #LuxLeaks stunts Global Alliance for Tax Justice See also: #LuxLeaks anniversary marked with protests, calls for action ICIJ, A year after LuxLeaks, it is high time for EU action on corporate tax-dodging The Guardian, and A Year On, Europe's Tax Affairs Are Still A Mystery New … [Read more...]
UK and China: the national security threat from the City of London
In March we wrote a short article (also discussed in our Taxcast) about the U.S.' ire about what US officials said was Britain's 'constant accommodation' with China." That followed an earlier article a TJN blogger wrote in The American Interest about Russia and the City of London. In both cases we … [Read more...]
Leaked documents: how Luxembourg, Netherlands have blocked EU tax reforms
From Sven Giegold, without comment: The Netherlands and Luxembourg prevented progress on EU measures aimed at preventing tax dumping for years, according to leaked minutes of a Council working group being reported in the German media today (1). The documents on which the articles are based are … [Read more...]
The 2015 Financial Secrecy Index in the global media
Since its first publication in 2009, TJN's Financial Secrecy Index has helped transform public understanding of the geography of tax havens. This has been helped by the huge international press coverage the index receives. This week's launch of the 2015 FSI results has been no exception, with … [Read more...]
Links Nov 5
Note: tomorrow we'll be posting news of worldwide media coverage on our newly launched 2015 Financial Secrecy Index LuxLeaks anniversary: activists call for transparency Global Alliance for Tax Justice See also: Global Week of Action for #TaxJustice, Nov 2-6! 1 year on from #LuxLeaks - … [Read more...]
Rangers lose the big tax case: what now?
The Offshore Game, a TJN-supported site dedicated to looking at tax havenry in sport, published this long article about Scotland's Rangers football club yesterday. It is important not just for the interests involved, but because of principles at stake, not least concerning discretionary trusts (see … [Read more...]
