In the May 2017 Taxcast: We talk to film director Michael Oswald about his new film The Spider’s Web: Britain’s Second Empire. Listen for details on how you can see the film. Also, we discuss booming Sweden’s ‘reverse-Trumpism’: its economy grew almost twice as fast as the US last year – and it … [Read more...]
Blog
Africa subsidises the rest of the world by over $40 billion in one year, according to new research
Global Justice Now press release: Download the report Much more wealth is leaving the world’s most impoverished continent than is entering it, according to new research into total financial flows into and out of Africa. The study finds that African countries receive $161.6 billion in resources … [Read more...]
The Price of Entry: residence and citizenship by investment around the world
Many thousands of people a year risk their lives to cross borders into what they hope will be countries of greater safety, opportunity and quality of life. Yet for others who are wealthy enough, the borders are open. For those who can pay, nationality, residency and freedom of movement are … [Read more...]
Faking residency: OECD’s Common Reporting Standard leaves the door wide open for fraud
The OECD’s Common Reporting Standard (CRS) for automatic exchange of banking information leaves the door wide open for fraud. The OECD has recently made available a form to report potential avoidance schemes of the CRS. While this form is a first useful step - we've been sharing with them the … [Read more...]
Campaign victory disarms big tobacco’s lobby front in developing countries
Update: the Financial Times has covered the great news. Below is a press release cross-posted from Tax Tobacco for Life, about a major campaign victory, which could save hundreds of thousands, even millions of lives in some of the poorest countries in the world. Here's the quick story. Big … [Read more...]
Evading Tax and Avoiding Tax Evasion: for decades British governments have shied away from tackling cross border crime
Guest blog authored by Dr Michael Woodiwiss (Arts and Cultural Industries, University of the West of England) and Dr Mary Alice Young (Bristol Law School, University of the West of England) In the 1920s, an embryonic tax collecting organisation was steadily growing in the US. The Internal … [Read more...]
Germany rejects beneficial ownership transparency
On 17 May 2017, the members of the Finance Committee of the Bundestag cast their votes for ultimate amendments to Germany's anti-money laundering law. The governing conservatives CDU/CSU and Social Democrats SPD rejected amendments supported by the left and Green party that would have remedied three … [Read more...]
Our May 2017 Spanish language Podcast: Justicia ImPositiva, nuestro podcast de mayo 2017
Welcome to this month’s latest podcast and radio programme in Spanish with Marcelo Justo and Marta Nuñez, downloaded and broadcast on radio networks across Latin America and Spain. ¡Bienvenidos y bienvenidas a nuestro podcast y programa radiofónica! (abajo en castellano). In this month’s … [Read more...]
Jainism and Ethical Finance
"The financial crisis of 2008 has led to a re-evaluation of the role of financial institutions and their relationship with the wider economy and society. There is an increased questioning of both the conduct of business itself and the principles behind commercial and financial activities. Yet … [Read more...]
The Achilles heel of effective beneficial ownership registration: Why is everyone fixed on 25%?
Civil society and allies are pushing for real (and useful) transparency when it comes to disclosing the beneficial owners (BOs) of companies, meaning the individuals who ultimately own and control the companies that operate in our economies, and that could be involved in illegal activities (e.g. tax … [Read more...]
The U.K. post-general election: strong, stable and still kind to criminals
The British Prime Minister Theresa May has called a snap general election. We'd like to share with you the thoughts of Dr Mary Alice Young (Bristol Law School, University of the West of England) and Dr Michael Woodiwiss (Arts and Cultural Industries, University of the West of England) on the … [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...]
Sweden’s recipe for success: high taxes, strong unions, and equal distribution of wealth
While recent elections in France, U.K. and the U.S.A. have shown the results of globalisation gone bad, Sweden has successfully adapted its development model to make globalisation work for the majority of its people. … [Read more...]
Forthcoming book: Tax Havens and International Human Rights Law
Tax havens cause enormous damage, not least because they block governments from fulfilling their human rights obligations. When rich people and powerful businesses evade paying taxes by using offshore tax havens they deprive states of the revenues they need to deliver on their commitments to … [Read more...]
Developing countries’ access to CbCR: Guess who’s (not) coming to OECD dinner
It's said that if you're not at the table, you're on the menu. Well, the OECD has just made available the list of activated relationships to automatically exchange country-by-country reports between countries. They use big figures like 700 relationships, but don’t get fooled by those numbers - … [Read more...]
