About Alex Cobham
Find your local Fair Tax business: Launch of the Fair Tax Map
Our good friends at the Fair Tax Mark in the UK have been pioneering a means for businesses to demonstrate their commitment to tax transparency, and to paying the right amount of tax at the right time and in the right place. (And what business wouldn’t want to do that?) Already the Fair Tax Mark has been obtained by businesses
Read the full article…Crowdsourcing request: “We are not a tax haven!”
Over the years, we’ve chronicled the tax haven denial of many secrecy jurisdictions, even building a partial list of those who have publicly claimed “We are not a tax haven!” Now, at the prompting of tax twitter (notably Mary Cosgrove and Stephanie Johnston, with honourable mentions to Aisling Donoghue, Toby Quantrill and Richard Smith), we thought we’d have a go
Read the full article…Report launch: Global taxation – Financing the Sustainable Development Goals
Education is a fundamental human right and a global public good. So how do we address the lack of financing for it around the world? TJN has written a study on the role of global tax in financing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for the United Nations Education Commission (in full, the International Commission on Financing Global Education Opportunity). That study, developed
Read the full article…Tax Justice Network: A transition
After 13 years, our founding executive director John Christensen is stepping down. We’re delighted that John will stay on and become our new board chair. And I (Alex Cobham) am honoured to accept the role of chief executive at TJN. Since I took up the post of Director of Research at the start of last year, I’ve had the chance to
Read the full article…Press release: Campaign to expose big tobacco’s lobby front may save millions of lives in lower-income countries
Below is a press release published today, 6 November 2016, with a wide range of tramadol health and international development organisations. It may mark a turning point in the fight to weaken the influence of Big Tobacco over the tax policies which are critical to save millions of lives in lower-income countries. The focus is on ITIC, a think tank
Read the full article…Creating an open CBCR database – your views please!
TJN has, since its establishment in 2003, led the way in developing and promoting the idea of public country-by-country reporting (CBCR) for multinational companies. Open Knowledge International, who partnered with TJN in establishing Open Data for Tax Justice (#OD4TJ), are pioneers in using open data to achieve tangible policy results and human progress. The Financial Transparency Coalition (FTC) has championed
Read the full article…Facebook UK tax – TJN statement
Facebook UK’s accounts for 2015 were published today, online at Companies House. TJN Director of Research Alex Cobham commented: “Facebook UK’s accounts show specific issues, but point also to the real problem: that major multinational companies appear to be able to pick and choose, unlike the rest of us, where and how much tax they will pay. British Prime Minister
Read the full article…The UK’s North Sea oil revenues: Giving it away?
New analysis of the UK’s North Sea oil and gas suggests that the combination of tax giveaways by the government, and aggressive avoidance by multinationals, means that the country may actually be subsidising the extraction of its natural resources. And this at a time of continuing ‘austerity’ measures, that a UN treaty body has harshly criticised for driving poverty and inequality, undermining citizens’ human rights.
Read the full article…The US Treasury just declared tax war on Europe
Update: here’s our research director Alex Cobham’s interview with Share Radio which goes through the key points. On this quiet August day, the US Treasury has fired the first shots of a tax war with Europe. And while it’s wrapped up in a claim to defend international tax cooperation, it looks more like an attempt to prevent an effective measure against
Read the full article…Anti-corruption summit: UK climbdown, but momentum grows
The UK government has failed to deliver a decisive blow against financial secrecy at its Anti-Corruption Summit. David Cameron failed to convince or compel leaders of British overseas territories and crown dependencies to end their hidden ownership vehicles, despite having called for such a move for more than a year. But despite this climbdown, it’s clear that momentum is growing for the key transparency measures that will
Read the full article…Event: Illicit financial flows after ‘Panamania’: Seizing the moment
The first evening of our annual research workshop at City University will feature a special public event, jointly organised with the Royal African Society, on the policy implications of the Panama Papers, and the future of financial secrecy. Thursday, 28 April 2016 – 6:00pm to 8:00pm Date & Time: Thursday 28th April, 18:00-20:00 Venue: Lecture Theatre ELG03, Drysdale Building, City University, London,
Read the full article…How the OECD had a ‘bad Panama Papers’ – and why it matters
This is a long read, with three main components. First, we examine the OECD’s position as an international tax organisation – and the gradual weakening of its preeminence. Second, we consider two specific aspects of the OECD’s work as a watchdog for noncooperative jurisdictions, as they have played out in the Panama papers. And finally, we draw some conclusions about the scope for
Read the full article…Three things the heads of the World Bank and IMF got wrong about an intergovernmental tax body
On Sunday, the International Monetary Fund will host a major event on tax. The IMF, of course, would love to take some of the OECD’s space as the go-to organisation on tax for the G8 (G7) and G20 groups of countries. Earlier this week, a UK member of parliament asked both Christine Lagarde and Jim Yong Kim (the heads of the IMF and
Read the full article…Press release: Tax Justice Network responds to European Commission proposals for public country-by-country reporting
The European Commission’s proposals mark one more step towards the global adoption of a crucial measure for international tax transparency and accountability – but they are so highly flawed that as things stand they would most likely be bad for European tax revenues, and provide no help at all to developing countries. Why should country-by-country reporting be public? Since the
Read the full article…What David Cameron got wrong
After four days and repeated statements and clarifications, the UK Prime Minister David Cameron has stated he did indeed hold shares in his father’s Panama-based trust, Blairmore. TweetShare
