From Francine McKenna: "Of all the individuals and firms tied up in the scandal over bribery and corruption at FIFA, scrutiny has so far largely escaped KPMG, the soccer association’s external auditor." That's the summary, and our quote of the day. The article continues: … [Read more...]
Inequality & Democracy
Links Jun 3
Support-antoine.org - newsletter: We support Antoine Deltour, the whistleblower of the Luxleaks revelations! Your can donate to the Support Committee for Antoine Deltour here. Luxleaks whistle-blower Deltour wins broad support in European Parliament European Parliament News Luxleaks … [Read more...]
Tax Justice Research Bulletin 1(5)
May 2015. Welcome to the fifth Tax Justice Research Bulletin, a monthly series dedicated to tracking the latest developments in policy-relevant research on national and international taxation. This issue looks at a fascinating thesis on the different people and organisations that influence the … [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...]
Links May 29
How to tackle tax evasion and tax avoidance? The case for tax transparency to contain and end tax wars Presentation by TJN's Markus Meinzer at the ALDE seminar: How to tackle tax evasion and tax avoidance? Paving the way for fair tax competition in Europe. Reflecting on Progressive Realisation … [Read more...]
The other FIFA scandal: poor countries and the tax-free bubble
We've just written about the role of Goldman Sachs in distorting U.S. sports and harming smaller players via tax cheating. Well, here is yet another thing to make you choke on your cornflakes: FIFA hurting poor countries though what we'd describe as aggressive, idiosyncratic tax cheating. … [Read more...]
Stiglitz to tax haven UK: you are aiding and abetting theft
Our quote of the day, from Nobel prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz, commenting in the wake of the UK election: “Some of these people are just using your rule of law to protect money they have stolen in other countries . . . From a global point of view, you are aiding and abetting theft.” … [Read more...]
Links May 22
Special Report - Britain's home-grown tax haven Reuters Costa Rican bill would allow tax authority to seize assets without court order STEP See the article in Spanish here. Swiss Bankers Respond To Privacy Initiative Tax-News … [Read more...]
Links May 21
Alan Rusbridger: press can't afford to cover corruption and tax avoidance The Guardian "Guardian editor-in-chief says newspapers retain the power to hold companies to account, but their declining fortunes are making it difficult" Lux Leaks Scandal. Juncker Gets A Step Closer to Hot Seat … [Read more...]
The Price We Pay – London premiere on 19th June 2015
Harold Crooks' (The Corporation, Surviving Progress) searing documentary indictment of offshore finance gets it UK premiere at the Open City Documentary Festival in London on 19th June, and will also be screened the following week at TJN's discussion workshop at City University. … [Read more...]
Should tax targets for post-2015 be rejected?
From Alex Cobham, TJN Research Director, writing at Uncounted: "In a strident blog at the International Centre for Tax and Development, Mick Moore, Nora Lustig, Richard Bird, Nancy Birdsall, Odd-Helge Fjeldstad, Richard Manning and Wilson Prichard have called for the rejection of post-2015 tax … [Read more...]
Auditor rotation: the new merry-go-round
From Prof. Prem Sikka, via email: "Auditing itself has become one of the biggest frauds of modern times. When was the last time company auditors drew attention to fiddles, tax dodging, money laundering or their own complicity in financial misdemeanours? The penalties for delivering duff audits, … [Read more...]
Links May 18
Should tax targets for post-2015 be rejected? Uncounted - Alex Cobham's Blog Uncounted: has the post-2015 data revolution failed already? Uncounted - Alex Cobham's Blog UNESCAP and Government of Indonesia - Asia Pacific High Level Consultation for Financing for Development Equity BD Links … [Read more...]
Links May 15
OECD insists tax playing field will be level swissinfo See also: OECD approval uncertain over tax transparency request procedures STEP (note references to "stolen" rather than leaked data), and see recent blogs: When a tax haven invokes the ‘level playing field’, run for the hills, and Swiss … [Read more...]
Links May 14
Live! Tax justice TV drama! Global Alliance for Tax Justice View recent sessions of the UN Financing for Development negotiations, including the paragraph by paragraph debate of text relating to tax justice Lessons and legacies of the financial crisis in Latin America Global Alliance for Tax … [Read more...]
