The introduction of a key policy tool against multinational companies’ tax avoidance has been handled so badly that developing countries are now exposed to worse inequalities. In a new report published today, we call for immediate changes to limit the damage done. … [Read more...]
Taxing corporations
Corporate Tax Wars: May tries to trump Trump in a race to the bottom
The British Prime Minister today hinted that she is considering further corporate tax cuts and increases in corporate welfare after US President elect Donald Trump signaled he would seek to slash the US federal corporation tax rate to 15%. Theresa May's speech signals a renewed commitment by … [Read more...]
Global tax reform: update on progress and next steps
The Methodist Tax Justice Network, the Global Alliance for Tax Justice and one of our senior advisors Professor Sol Picciotto have just published a very useful up-to-date account of where the OECD and G20 have got to on tax reform, along with a useful explanation of the Unitary Taxation … [Read more...]
Facebook UK tax – TJN statement
Facebook UK's accounts for 2015 were published today, online at Companies House. TJN Director of Research Alex Cobham commented: "Facebook UK’s accounts show specific issues, but point also to the real problem: that major multinational companies appear to be able to pick and choose, unlike the … [Read more...]
Beware the siren song of “tax certainty”
Back in July the G20 club of powerful countries issued a communiqué in which they enthused about "the benefits of tax certainty to promote investment and trade," and they mandated the OECD and the IMF "to continue working on the issues of pro-growth tax policies and tax certainty." It's taken as a … [Read more...]
UN report recommends: go after tax havens, and protect whistleblowers
From the United Nations General Assembly, the fifth report of the Independent Expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order. The summary goes like this: "The report focuses on impacts of taxation on human rights and explores the challenges posed to the international … [Read more...]
Ecuador’s president calls for global tax body
Updated with additional information about Correa's administration and exposés in the Panama Papers scandal; scroll down. Ecuador's president Rafael Correa has published a significant statement about international tax governance, and specifically the prospect of creating a global tax organisation. … [Read more...]
Report: new data disproves US corporations’ false narrative on taxes
From Americans for Tax Fairness, a major new report about corporate taxes in the United States. It's called Corporate Tax Chartbook: How Corporations Rig the Rules to Dodge the Taxes They Owe, and it contains many useful facts, such as this: Corporate profits are way up, and corporate taxes … [Read more...]
Apple’s tax affairs: a symptom of the robber-baron culture
Updated with further information about Brazil's decision - see below. Now also on Angry Bear, Middle Class Political Economist From the Financial Times: More precisely, a group of 185 American CEOs has sent letters, co-ordinated by the Business Roundtable lobby group, to the leaders of 28 EU … [Read more...]
Now Brazil puts Ireland on its tax haven blacklist
We have for years remarked that one of our informal markers of a tax haven is loud tax haven denials. See our 'we are not a tax haven' blog for more. There's probably no place more vocal than Ireland, where there seems to be a veritable industry of tax haven deniers, which specialises in … [Read more...]
Report: why we need to tax corporations now, more than ever
Update: now on Naked Capitalism, where it's attracted a lot of interesting commentary Last year we published a document entitled Ten Reasons to Defend the Corporate Income Tax, outlining how the tax is under constant attack, in country after country, and explaining why it is one of the most … [Read more...]
Apple’s iPhone 7 launch: but what about the taxes?
Apple is launching its iPhone 7 today. In the context of the recent Apple tax scandal, and the imbroglio involving the company, the European Commission, and the U.S. Treasury, we thought we'd share some images that some of our partners have created, to celebrate the event. Before seeing the … [Read more...]
The UK’s North Sea oil revenues: Giving it away?
New analysis of the UK's North Sea oil and gas suggests that the combination of tax giveaways by the government, and aggressive avoidance by multinationals, means that the country may actually be subsidising the extraction of its natural resources. And this at a time of continuing 'austerity' … [Read more...]
Public procurement — the next frontier for tax justice campaigning?
This guest blog by Matti Ylönen is partly based on an academic article Cities as World Political Actors: “Tax haven free cities” initiative and the politics of public procurement. Public procurement — the next frontier for tax justice campaigning? The international movement for tax justice and … [Read more...]
Will the British government target tax dodging enablers at last?
There has been much talk in Britain of new government proposals that tax advisors giving advice on tax avoidance could face large fines of up to 100% of the tax lost if their schemes are defeated in courts. We warmly welcome the principle of the thing: these players have been getting away with … [Read more...]
