The investigative newspaper Médiapart, which is fast gaining a reputation in France for hard-hitting reporting, has a special report on Jersey, Britain's (and to a lesser extent France's) favourite tax haven. It is fascinating, not least because it explicitly references our work on the Finance … [Read more...]
Blog
Country by country reporting: here it comes
From Tax Research, reposted in full, with a few key links added: The era of country-by-country reporting is arriving The OECD has announced its 2014 outcomes from the Base Erosion and Profits Shifting process this afternoon. As far as I am concerned the key issue is country-by-country … [Read more...]
Quote of the day – on tax laws and corporate partners
From Marty Sullivan (pictured), a top U.S. tax expert, speaking last year: “What politicians keep forgetting is that you can’t ‘partner’ with the corporate community when it comes to writing the tax laws,” Sullivan explains. “They’re not partners — they are adversaries.” Someone ought to send a … [Read more...]
Three Illicit Flows Targets for the Post-2015 Framework
From Alex Cobham at the Center for Global Development, with hat tip to Tax Research. For an earlier article about the post-2015 framework, please click here. Three Illicit Financial Flows Targets There is broad consensus on the need for the post-2015 successor framework to the Millennium … [Read more...]
UNCTAD: the time for tax justice has come
A press release about the latest UNCTAD Trade and Development report 2014: "Governments, from rich and poor countries alike, should be able to finance the investment and other public spending required to meet the demands of their citizens for a more prosperous and secure life. Mobilizing domestic … [Read more...]
On the human rights of bad guys
There's been a lot of talk recently in the human rights field about tax justice issues - and rightly so. Now a new academic book to add to the collection, considering things from a different angle. It's called The human rights of bad guys: corruption, asset recovery, and the protection of property … [Read more...]
Links Sep 12
Tax justice – in it for the long haul Christian Aid Three Illicit Flows Targets for the Post-2015 Framework Center for Global Development How tax inspectors could prevent the next Ebola outbreak The Conversation See also recent blog: Tax Inspectors Without Borders – an update The … [Read more...]
Will the UN take serious action to stop the loss of trillions of dollars to tax abuse?
From Prof. Thomas Pogge: "Intense negotiations are going on at the United Nations about the formulation of the new sustainable development goals (SDGs) and the targets and indicators to be used for specification and measurement. Starting 11 September, the president of the general assembly will host … [Read more...]
Links Sep 11
Fiscal justice to reduce inequality in Latin America and the Caribbean Oxfam International Taxes: the structural reform pending in Latin America BBC World (In Spanish) Hat tip: Jorge Gaggero Swiss Minister’s offshore business to be re-investigated swissinfo … [Read more...]
Corporate Deadbeats: How Companies Get Rich Off Taxes
A nice cover story in Newsweek from David Cay Johnston, worth remarking on because it's written so clearly and is a powerful indictment of what's going on in the corporate U.S. at the moment. A sample from the article: "How can a tax burden become a boon? Simple. Congress lets multinationals … [Read more...]
Links Sep 10
The Creation of International Financial Centres in Africa: The Case of Kenya Anti-Corruption Resource Centre Elderly Lobbyist Always Droning On About How Little Legislation Cost In His Day The Onion A Made-in-America Offshore Tax Haven Newsweek Developing Countries Losing Billions To … [Read more...]
Basic income: the world’s simplest plan to end poverty
From an article on Vox, explaining the concept: "Basic income" is shorthand for a range of proposals that share the idea of giving everyone in a given polity a certain amount of money on a regular basis. A basic income comes with no categorical eligibility requirements; you don't have to be blind … [Read more...]
Do Britain’s super-wealthy non-doms bring in huge tax revenues?
Britain's antiquated "non-domicile" rule is a relic from an age of empire. It involves defining a person's tax residence according to, in essence, their tribal affiliation. It's not the same as nationality or tax residence. As the UK government defines it: "broadly speaking you have your domicile … [Read more...]
KPMG offers generous advice that will help tax cheats
One of the most important live initiatives currently in the field of tax justice and international financial transparency is the OECD's Common Reporting Standards (CRS,) a system of automatic information exchange which we have broadly welcomed - though with some gripes - here. Now it turns out … [Read more...]
The Offshore Wrapper: a week in tax justice #30
Fifa ate my hamster There has been much media coverage of the many millions allegedly paid in bribes to secure the rights to hold the 2022 Football World Cup in Qatar. These include evidence of an alleged $1.2m payment from a Qatari company involved in the bid to Jack Warner a Fifa executive … [Read more...]
