Defending public services together! PSI "We need to ensure multinationals pay their fair share of tax and that governments use this revenue to drive public sector growth through investment in universal, quality public services" Opinion for the public hearing of the Finance Committee of the … [Read more...]
Finance Sector
Links Jun 21
Call for papers on “Human Rights and Tax in an Unequal World” Global Alliance for Tax Justice LATINDADD's Reports on Extractive Industry and Tax Avoidance in Latin America via Eurodad June 2016 could be a crucial moment for whistleblowers’ protection Eurodad Still Racing Toward The Bottom? … [Read more...]
Swiss whistleblower Rudolf Elmer: ‘they want to crucify me, as an example to other bankers’
Rudolf Elmer, the Swiss whistleblower who has been pursued by Swiss courts for a decade and served over half a year in prison while accused of (according to Switzerland's peculiar courts) violating the Swiss banking secrecy law, now faces two more court trials: one, on June 23rd, as part of the … [Read more...]
What might Brexit do for tax havens and tax justice?
The UK votes on Thursday in a referendum over leaving the European Union. While there are dynamics that play in different directions, such a 'Brexit' would almost certainly see the UK itself push further down the road of tax havenry, hurting its own citizens and causing wider global damage. The … [Read more...]
Links Jun 17
African Governments Should Harness Taxation Opportunities To Improve Investment In Children TJN - Africa The Panama Papers – what they mean and why they are important for Africa Financial Transparency Coalition India: Here's What PM Modi Can And Cannot Do About Offshore Black Money Huffington … [Read more...]
Links Jun 16
Why unfair tax treaties hold back developing countries The Guardian Mossack Fonseca worker arrested in Switzerland The Guardian "Employee is held on suspicion of ‘extracting confidential information’ from law firm at centre of Panama Papers". See also: Geneva Opens Criminal Probe After Mossack … [Read more...]
Switzerland is handing back looted money. How big a deal is this?
In the context of a fun Twitter fight and finger-pointing between the Swiss Bankers' Association and the German Finance Ministry, there's a newish story on Quartz entitled Swiss bankers swear they are trying to help Africa get its dirty money back. It begins like this: "It irritates Valentin … [Read more...]
Links Jun 14
Experts rule out ‘end’ of fiscal secrecy Buenos Aires Herald Indonesia: Measuring Tax Amnesty Kompas See also recent blog Indonesia’s corrupt tax amnesty – how many will follow? The Panama Papers - Zimbabwe Must Not Waste This Opportunity allAfrica / New Zimbabwe Why Microsoft, With $100 … [Read more...]
Links Jun 13
The myth of the offshore ANCIR "African tax havens are frequently used as cogs in the wheels of corporate, criminal and political activities that desire legal and financial veils" Australian Taxation Officer recruits executives for new 'tax avoidance taskforce' hunting tax cheats, … [Read more...]
Links Jun 10
EU launches official one-year inquiry into Panama Papers scandal euronews Swiss Private Bankers demand tax breaks on criminal fines imposed for tax evasion offences swissinfo Illicit Financial Flows out of Africa (IFFoA) Database TrustAfrica See also: Corruption Stalls Zimbabwe’s Economic … [Read more...]
Now Luxembourg, Switzerland are working to bolster Tax Haven USA
Update: making clear that the Swiss text we cited is a provisional test. As we've often said before, it is counterproductive (and an analytical error) to see the fight against tax havens in purely geographical terms. When the U.S. Justice Department started taking action against Swiss bankers, … [Read more...]
More sordid details about the Luxembourg tax cheat factory
If you read one story today, read this, from Private Eye. A couple of small excerpts reveal the extent to which tax havens like Luxembourg are 'captured states": Applications for the favourable rulings, Halet told the court, were sent every Wednesday at 1.30pm in batches of 30 to 40 and returned … [Read more...]
The false promise of tax haven blacklists
From Eurodad: This week, European Union finance ministers agreed to establish a common EU blacklist of so-called “non-cooperative jurisdictions” – in other words, tax havens. With one tax scandal unfolding after the other, listing and sanctioning tax havens may seem like a good solution. However, … [Read more...]
Liberia’s mysterious company registry system
Our friends and colleagues at Finance Uncovered have written a fascinating story entitled Liberia: America’s outpost of financial secrecy, which has been published today in South Africa’s Daily Maverick in cooperation with AmaBhungane. We'd urge you to read the whole fascinating story of … [Read more...]
Three lessons on the hidden cost of corruption – for the West
A guest blog by Sigrún Davíðsdóttir Corruption and corrupt business practices have often been portrayed as a problem only endured by poor countries, of little consequence to the developed West. The three following stories show that this is a wrong-headed, old-fashioned understanding, reflecting … [Read more...]
