Tackle Tax Evasion to Fuel Africa's Development allAfrica / The Point (Banjul) Bangladesh: MNCs abuse relaxed taxation to deprive government of crucial revenue Dhaka Tribune India To Introduce Patent Box Regime, Country-by-Country Reporting Tax-News Pakistan: Government can negotiate with … [Read more...]
Archives for 2016
Should we be giving tax breaks to tobacco companies?
From Citizens for Tax Justice in the U.S., a post that begins by discussing federal tax breaks for manufacturing corporations. And they ask: "Tobacco companies “manufacture” cigarettes—but do Americans, or lawmakers, really think it’s a good idea for the federal government to subsidise this … [Read more...]
Links Feb 26
We're letting oil, gas and minerals firms off far too lightly on tax The Guardian See also: EITI: Just a whitewash mechanism for extractive companies? (in Spanish) TJN Latin America & Caribbean Questions on Panama company and New Zealand trust set-up for Malta's energy minister Malta … [Read more...]
Offshore Ireland implicated in bank collapse, once again
Update: now on Naked Capitalism (and note the comments underneath.) Update 2, March 1: now with added video at the end: a Live Register report on the IFSC, from 2012. We have written a great deal about the role of Ireland and the Irish Financial Services Centre (IFSC) and its role as an … [Read more...]
Belgian tax treaties cost developing countries millions every year
New report 11.11.11: Belgian tax treaties cost developing countries millions every year A guest blog by Jan van de Poel As a consequence of dozens of unbalanced tax treaties, negotiated by the Belgian government, developing countries miss out on at least 35 million Euros on tax revenues each … [Read more...]
Pfizer: tax dodger, price gouger
A new report from Americans for Tax Fairness concludes: "In addition to dodging its fair share of taxes, Pfizer—maker of Celebrex, Lipitor, Lyrica, and Viagra, among many other health-care products—has also been aggressively raising prescription drug prices, thereby straining patients and our … [Read more...]
Links Feb 25
Oil, gas and mining transparency initiative facing crisis of relevance and legitimacy Oxfam How North Korea Funnels Cash Into the Country Bloomberg Indonesia's wealth managers bank on tax amnesty for take-off Reuters Nigeria's parliament orders tax payments from oil traders Reuters … [Read more...]
A Leak in Paradise – screening of this extraordinary documentary film about Swiss whistleblower Ruedi Elmer
Ana Gomes (S&D) and Fabio De Masi (GUE/NGL) Members of the Intergroup on Integrity, Transparency, Corruption and Organised Crime (ITCO) invite you to the screening of - A LEAK IN PARADISE - … [Read more...]
Corporate tax: the great incidence hoax
We've mentioned the incidence question several times before, but TJN's Director John Christensen was at a debate in London last night on the future of the corporate income tax, alongside Mike Devereux of the Oxford Centre for Business Taxation; Helen Miller of the Institute for Fiscal Studies; … [Read more...]
Quote of the day: South Africa’s Finance Minister
From the 2016 budget speech in South Africa, from Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan: "We will continue to act aggressively against the evasion of tax through transfer pricing abuses, misuse of tax treaties and illegal money flows. Drawing on the work of the OECD, the G20 joint project on base … [Read more...]
Which countries have a Land Value Tax?
TJN is a strong supporter of the idea of a Land Value Tax, as part of a comprehensive tax system. It is a kind of wealth tax: a key recommendation in Thomas Piketty's excellent Capital in the Twenty-First Century, and a long-running recommendation of TJN's. The LVT, popularised by the 19th Century … [Read more...]
National Competitiveness: a Dangerous Obsession
Highlighting a presentation by TJN's Director John Christensen at the Max Planck Institute in December, and a chapter in a new book by two TJN authors, on the same theme. First, Max Planck, which published the details yesterday: … [Read more...]
Report: The treaties that cut taxes in poorest countries
New analysis: The treaties that cut taxes in some of the world’s poorest countries A guest blog by Lovisa Möller, ActionAid Today ActionAid releases battery of resources for academics, negotiators and activists that want to know more about the tax treaties that some of the world’s poorest … [Read more...]
OECD invites developing countries to join anti-tax avoidance plan, but only after the rules have been written
From the Financial Transparency Coalition, of which TJN is a member. OECD invites developing countries to join anti-tax avoidance plan, but only after the rules have been written The OECD’s plan to open the BEPS system to developing countries after it has already been designed highlights the … [Read more...]
Australia passes new information sharing provision
The Australian Senate has just passed the Bill that will tie Australia into the new global system of tax authorities sharing information with each other automatically. Unfortunately, this system, set up through the OECD, currently had not allowed full participation by developing countries. With … [Read more...]
