New Bank Leak Shows How Rich Exploit Tax Haven Loopholes ICIJ See also: Offshore secrets of the UK's wealthy political donors The Guardian Black money trail: No list of Indians holding money in Swiss banks, says Arun Jaitley Financial Express See also: Delhi searches for wealth in overseas tax … [Read more...]
Corporate Tax
How developing countries can take control over their tax destinies
Krishen Mehta, a Senior Adviser to TJN, has written a short document with ten pointers offering ways that developing countries can take control over their tax destinies. We reproduce the introduction of his article below: please click on the full article for the ten points. We hope to produce more … [Read more...]
Links Jul 8
Key IMF policy paper released on tax havens and development European Institute for International Law and International Relations See also our recent blog on the IMF report here. Make ‘Justified’ Requests Swiss Banks Tell India Business Insider And to compare and contrast: Swiss banks threaten … [Read more...]
The Offshore Wrapper: A week in tax justice
Going down? Egypt’s richest family Egypt’s highest profile tax case has taken a bizarre turn this week. The story starts in 2007 when Orascom Construction Industries sold their cement business to the French giant Lafarge. … [Read more...]
Links Jul 4
FATCA Just a Band Aid for Latin American Tax Evasion Inter Press Service Cites TJN's Andrés Knobel, pointing out that the limiting factor for developing countries is that FATCA is bilateral. See also: FATCA: Dropping the bomb The Economist - The article is quite harshly critical of FATCA, but does … [Read more...]
Links Jul 3
Africa: Regional integrated tax systems needed to curb illicit financial flows New Vision See also: Why Africa Must be at Heart of Global Tax Reforms Chimpreports.com Switzerland Agrees Tax Regime Review With EU Tax-News … [Read more...]
Barclays sheds some light on its financial affairs, country by country
Richard Murphy, who pioneered the concept of Country by Country reporting, has produced an important analysis of the data revealed in one of the first such published reports, from UK-based Barclays bank. Among many other things, he says: "This analysis suggests that Barclays is massively … [Read more...]
Press Release: European Commission hires transparency opponent to assess corporate transparency
TJN is a signatory to the following letter, and this press release: Press Release: CSOs protest as European Commission hires opponent of corporate transparency to assess corporate transparency After strongly opposing any publication of data from corporate country by country reporting, … [Read more...]
Links Jul 1
Offshore Tax Crackdown Opens With 30% Penalties for Banks Bloomberg See also: FATCA Is Finally Here -- Even In Russia & China Forbes Swiss banks to tell all under FATCA swissinfo While events are moving in the right direction, such declarations remain something of a smokescreen, as assets … [Read more...]
Links Jun 30
Argentina's Vice President Charged With Bribery abc news Vice president accused of hiding behind a shell company so he and other secret partners could benefit from unusual tax exemptions and lucrative government contracts. Zambia Refusing to Release $600 Million in VAT Refunds to Mining … [Read more...]
Quote of the day on the OECD’s tax project: “let’s hope nothing happens”
From the Financial Times, in a story about a conference on the OECD's much-discussed BEPS project to reform international tax rules for transnational corporations: “The gameplan is to be positive but hope as little as possible happens,” is how Paul Oosterhuis, a tax partner of Skadden Arps, the US … [Read more...]
The Swiss commodity black hole: a bizarre new government proposal
From the Berne Declaration and Swissaid: "The Federal Council today announced its wish to close the Swiss gaps in transparency for the global commodity industry. But the entire commodities trading business may well be excluded from any future regulation." … [Read more...]
Links Jun 26
Australia dragging chain on G20's global tax crackdown The Sydney Morning Herald Bangladesh: Money flies away from Bangladesh The Daily Star "UNDP study shows grim trend of massive illicit capital flight". See also: 62% rise in Swiss bank deposits The Daily Star … [Read more...]
IMF: tax havens cause poverty, particularly in developing countries
The IMF has a major new Policy Paper out entitled Spillovers in International Taxation, looking at the effects that one country’s tax rules and practices can have on others. Of course this is a Staff Report and the IMF would never be so rude to some of its most powerful member states as to … [Read more...]
Links Jun 25
The Twin Insurgency The American Interest "The postmodern state is under siege from plutocrats and criminals who unknowingly compound each other’s insidiousness." Bangladesh: Anti Poor Tax Policy in Budget 2014-15 denies Redistributive Justice equitybd … [Read more...]
