Tax Justice Netherlands letter to The Dutch EU presidency: 5 Days Left to End Tax Avoidance On Wednesday 25 May, EU Ministers of Finance (ECOFIN) will meet to reach agreement on the EU Anti-Tax Avoidance Directive EU aims to rule on Amazon's Luxembourg tax deal by July Reuters See also: EU … [Read more...]
Inequality & Democracy
Links May 19
How morally fit is the West to lead a global campaign on corruption? The New Times Rwanda See also our earlier blog Anti-corruption summit: UK climbdown, but momentum grows, and Tax Justice Focus – The Corruption Issue How Panama Papers May Become a Boon for Cash-Strapped Argentina … [Read more...]
Links May 18
It's Up to Governments to Stop Enabling Corruption Bloomberg Editorial - Panama Papers: Money talks, but the pen is mightier than the sword The Malta Independent See also: Malta: Panama Papers - minister Mizzi and chief of staff Schembri chose Swiss bank’s Panama subsidiary for bank account … [Read more...]
Links May 16
ActionAid report on developing countries at risk from tax havens Global Alliance for Tax Justice Pakistan: Efforts being made to access $200 billion stashed in Swiss banks: Federal Law Minister Daily Pakistan Pakistan: Parliament session begins, PM to answer questions regarding Panama Leaks … [Read more...]
Links May 13
The world’s hidden wealth Prospect Magazine By TJN's @alexcobham and @nickshaxson To end corruption, start with the US and UK. They allow it in broad daylight The Guardian See also our earlier blog Anti-corruption summit: UK climbdown, but momentum grows, and Tax Justice Focus – The … [Read more...]
Britain’s secrecy web: no corpses on the street, no problem
On the occasion of a global anti-corruption summit in London, Tom Burgis has written a superb long investigation into the City of London for the Financial Times -- read it, if you can get a copy. As a teaser: "For Andrea, the contrast between the American and British responses to BSI’s … [Read more...]
Links May 11
India to tax Mauritius investments for first time since 1983 Reuters See also: Mauritius investors to be taxed from April 2017 Business Standard LuxLeaks prosecutors seek jail term of 18 months for whistleblowers The Guardian See our recent blog Will Antoine Deltour become a prisoner of … [Read more...]
Links May 10
Corruption can no longer be dismissed as a developing world problem The Guardian See also: Tax Justice Focus – The Corruption Issue UK overseas territories resist calls for concessions to end tax secrecy The Guardian A design flaw in Obama’s new Panama Papers rule could help shell companies … [Read more...]
Links May 9
ICIJ releases database revealing thousands of secret offshore companies Searchable database displays more than 300,000 entities from the Panama Papers and Offshore Leaks investigations Panama Papers source breaks silence over 'scale of injustices' The Guardian "Whistleblower says leak of 11.5m … [Read more...]
What if tax reform was a fundamental human right?
In January we blogged our 2016 Tax Justice and Human Rights essay competition, in partnership with Oxfam. It was a competition aimed at legal students and professionals, seeking ideas on how human rights law can be used in the fight against tax dodging. The winning student submission was from … [Read more...]
More than $12 trillion stuffed offshore, from developing countries alone
From The Guardian: "More than $12tn has been siphoned out of Russia, China and other emerging economies into the secretive world of offshore finance, new research has revealed, as David Cameron prepares to host world leaders for an anti-corruption summit. . . . The analysis, carried out by … [Read more...]
Links May 6
Nigeria calls on UK anti-corruption summit to back registers of ownership The Guardian A month after Panama Papers, South Africa commits to end anonymous companies Financial Transparency Coalition, TJN-Africa, & the Economic Justice Network LuxLeaks trial Deltour 'proud' to have advanced … [Read more...]
The Economist – How to crack a shell
We love this cartoon from this week's edition of The Economist, which comes from a lengthy article about the forthcoming anti-corruption summit in London. … [Read more...]
Links May 5
UN urges countries to stem tide of firms profit-shifting to tax havens The Guardian See also: Companies put $221 billion into low-tax jurisdictions in 2015: U.N. Reuters European Central Bank has not sought access to Panama Papers Reuters France's trust ownership registry to be opened to the … [Read more...]
Links May 3
India's Experience with Exchange of Information Agreements CBGA Missing Tax: Real Consequences - Public Services International May Day Statement Global Alliance for Tax Justice Tax & Human Rights advocacy tool (second in series) Global Alliance for Tax Justice How Nigeria’s lucrative … [Read more...]
