From Finance Uncovered, a TJN-founded project, a press release about a story that is (among other things) front page of South Africa's influential Mail & Guardian newspaper. Finance Uncovered reveals how Africa’s biggest cell phone firm shifts billions offshore The Finance Uncovered global … [Read more...]
Tax Treaties
GATJ: OECD tweaks to tax rules for multinational corporations fall short on transparency, inclusivity
From the Global Alliance for Tax Justice, a press release on the OECD's BEPS process, which we wrote about yesterday: "The Global Alliance for Tax Justice (GATJ) is urgently calling for a United Nations-based follow-up process to the “flawed” OECD Base Erosion and Profit Shifting project, in … [Read more...]
Press release: OECD’s BEPS proposals will not be the end of tax avoidance by multinationals
PRESS RELEASE EMBARGOED: 14:00 CET See this press release in pdf form here. See the BEPS Monitoring Group's longer technical evaluation here (or in condensed form here.) See links to further statements by others below. OECD’s BEPS proposals will not be the end of tax avoidance by … [Read more...]
Developing countries and BEPS: an equal footing?
From Bloomberg BNA: "Since 2013, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development [OECD] has been working on a 15-item BEPS action plan under Group of 20 authority with the aim of closing “loopholes” that allow multinationals to drastically reduce their taxes. Along the way, the project … [Read more...]
The march of the international tax treaty arbitrators
From Martin Hearson, a (somewhat wonkish) post about tax treaties and developing countries, entitled The tax treaty arbitrators cometh: "There are lots of reasons why eliminating all forms of double taxation faced by cross-border investors is a sensible thing to try to do. It is what tax treaties … [Read more...]
The G20/OECD BEPS Project on corporate tax: a scorecard
In 2013 the G20 world leaders mandated the OECD, a club of rich countries, for its Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project to produce reforms of international tax rules that would ensure that multinational enterprises could be taxed ‘where economic activities take place and where value is … [Read more...]
C20: new civil society policy paper on tax justice
Adapted from the Global Alliance for Tax Justice. Organisations from 91 countries from around the world, representing close to 500 civil society organisations and almost 5,000 individuals, have been working together for the last 18 months via the Civil 20 (C20) to engage with G20 governments on … [Read more...]
Quote of the day – Africa hit by global tax intrigues
Here's our quote of the day, via the Financial Transparency Coalition: “African nations are at the epicenter of the crisis of illicit financial flows, yet they are not even in the room when decisions are being made,” said Alvin Mosioma, Executive Director of the Tax Justice Network Africa. “A … [Read more...]
Corporate tax and the OECD: joint statement to the G20
The BEPS Monitoring Group (BMG), a body supported by TJN and led by TJN Senior Adviser Sol Picciotto, is a civil society body monitoring the OECD's Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project. BEPS is fancy OECD-speak for 'international corporate tax dodging'. The platform has now produced a … [Read more...]
Are the G7 really suggesting compulsory arbitration on international tax disputes?
Christian Aid sent us this email yesterday, and it's a shocker. Back in 2013, the G7 made some pretty strong commitments to tax justice, and we said then we'd be watching them carefully to see if they'd deliver. Well, on this evidence, they haven't: quite the opposite, in fact. It is worth … [Read more...]
International commission calls for corporate tax reform
When we look back, might today be the day that momentum swung decisively against current international tax rules? An independent commission made up of leading international economists, development thinkers and tax experts (see the graphic) has called for a radical overhaul of international … [Read more...]
Quote of the day – tax incentives as official tax evasion
This headline may seem odd. Conventionally tax evasion involves cutting taxes by breaking laws; using tax incentives is a different creature altogether: it involves cutting taxes by using the law. But this useful new report from the European parliament contains a twist on the conventional … [Read more...]
The Tax Justice Research Bulletin 1(4)
Corrected: the earlier version referring to a Banque de France Report said "$8bn revenue loss" when it should have referred to an $8bn loss in tax base. The Tax Justice Research Bulletin By Alex Cobham. TJN (April 2015) - The Tax Justice Research Bulletin is a monthly series dedicated to … [Read more...]
Why must tax treaties starve developing countries of revenue?
Martin Hearson, who has just been at a parliamentary hearing in Denmark, asks a very good question about tax treaties and developing countries: why exactly is it necessary for them to insist on stiffing developing countries of tax revenue? … [Read more...]
New Report: Ten Reasons to Defend the Corporate Income Tax.
UPDATES 2018 - Tax incentives in mining: minimising risks to revenue, OECD/Intergovernmental forum on mining, minerals, metals, and sustainable development. "Tax incentives are costly, leading many countries to forgo vital revenues in exchange for often illusive benefits. . . there is little … [Read more...]
