Cross-posted from Review of the African Political Economy with kind permission from the author, Nataliya Mykhalchenko Odd-Helge Fjeldstad, Sigrid Klæboe Jacobsen, Peter Henriksen Ringstad, Honest Prosper Ngowi Lifting the veil of secrecy: Perspectives on international taxation and capital flight … [Read more...]
Africa
Tax “stability” short-changes Burkina Faso
A couple of years ago we wrote a blog entitled Beware the siren song of “tax certainty, which took apart a widespread consensus that it is important for countries to embrace 'tax certainty' and 'stability.' These motherhood-and-apple-pie terms hide a world of mischief: not least the fact that this … [Read more...]
West Africa Leaks project exposes new offshore scandals
In a new investigation published today, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists has teamed up with 13 journalists to trawl though the Panama Papers and Paradise Papers to find untold stories of wealth extraction in West Africa. The outcome is being promoted under the hashtag … [Read more...]
Veils of secrecy: enhancing tax and ownership transparency in development projects
We're sharing here new research from the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights which evaluates the role played by a member of the World Bank Group, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in development projects. The full title of their research is Veils of secrecy: evaluating the IFC's role … [Read more...]
New report: German-African research linking illicit and criminal financial flows with global poverty
The Tax Justice & Poverty research project is a co-operative effort between three institutions run by the Jesuit Order of the Catholic Church: the Jesuitenmission based in Nuremberg (Germany), the Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection in Lusaka (Zambia) and the Jesuit Hakimani Centre in … [Read more...]
Guest blog: Tax Avoidance and Evasion in Africa
We're pleased to share this blog post (first published here) written by Nataliya Mykhalchenko for the Review of African Political Economy: Tax avoidance, tax evasion, tax heavens, illicit financial flows and global tax governance are real buzzwords that have come to dominate current international … [Read more...]
Africa’s battle against financial secrecy: Financial Secrecy Index
How are Switzerland, the United States, and the Caymans working against African efforts to stem the tide of illicit financial flows? They're among the worst offenders in the Tax Justice Network’s 2018 Financial Secrecy Index. The index was launched at the end of January 2018 and weights a … [Read more...]
Dear mining companies, why do you use tax havens?
The Southern African Catholics Bishops Conference has written an open letter to 21 mining companies operating in South Africa asking each to explain why they use tax havens. Their full letter is here and it's worth reading. They point out, "we are not accusing companies of anything. We believe it … [Read more...]
#ParadisePapers: The Mauritian Connection
What do Angola’s sovereign wealth fund, the cast of British TV show Mrs Brown’s Boys, and Yale University’s investment in India have in common? The Paradise Papers reveal that they are all connected with offshore secrecy jurisdiction Mauritius, with the assistance of offshore law firm … [Read more...]
The campaign to subvert the UN Sustainable Development Goals – TJN presentation from the Pan Africa Conference on Illicit Financial Flows and Tax
Our CEO Alex Cobham recently addressed the 5th Pan Africa Conference on Illicit Financial Flows and Tax, organised by Tax Justice Network Africa and the UN Economic Commission for Africa in Nairobi, Kenya. Alex’s presentation focuses on the debate emerging over the inclusion of the goal to reduce … [Read more...]
New release of global tax data
If you were working on tax as a development issue in the early 2000s, not only were you a lonely figure but you were also faced with some of the most pathetic cross-country data imaginable. For a 2005 paper (which introduced the 4 Rs of tax, inter alia), I tried to put together a comprehensive … [Read more...]
Half measures mean Mauritius will continue to be a tax haven for the developing world
There was news this week that Mauritius has signed the Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (MLI). This is an initiative from the OECD to allow countries to take measures designed to stop tax avoidance by multinational companies … [Read more...]
Recovering Africa’s Stolen Assets: from Jersey to Kenya
An interesting event has come to our attention that we'd like to share, taking place at Chatham House in London. Full event details here. Recovering Africa's Stolen Assets: Lessons from the Windward Trading Case A report by the World Bank’s Stolen Asset Recovery programme found that, while … [Read more...]
Bbumba: I Signed $157M Tax Waiver to Oil Company Without Reading Agreement
From TJN's Department of 'You Couldn't Make This Up': the East African press is reporting that Uganda's former Energy Minister, Syda Bhumba, has confirmed that she signed a tax waiver agreement with UK company, Tullow Oil, without reading the document. The waiver, which exempted both income and … [Read more...]
Launch of the African Platform to Protect Whistleblowers
Today the Plateforme de Protection des Lanceurs d’Alerte en Afrique (PPLAAF) will be officially launched during a press conference in Dakar. We're sharing the details with you here: … [Read more...]
