Now here's a tricky public relations issue for our times: how does a band like Take That rebuild its image after being exposed as serial tax avoiders? The Guardian's Lost in Showbiz grapples with the problem, in light of the weak apology tweeted by Take That's Gary Barlow: “I want to apologise to … [Read more...]
Inequality & Democracy
British comedian Russell Brand on tax havens and hypocrisy
Links Dec 4
New Asia-Pacific taxation taskforce announced Accountants Daily Mauritius Overtakes Singapore as India’s Top Source of FDI India Briefing Putin Suggests Total Amnesty for Offshore Capital Returning to Russia Sputnik International EU Slows Macedonia Plan for Tax Haven Balkan Insight See … [Read more...]
Links Dec 3
India has Less Than 1% Info on Black Money, Lots More I Can Offer, Whistle-blower Herve Falciani to NDTV Nigerian Governor Akpabio Named In Shady Possession Of St-Kitts And Nevis Passport Sahara Reporters Several high profile African figures are "economic citizens" of tax havens Africa’s … [Read more...]
Links Dec 2
Open letter to the Heads of State and Ministers of Finance of the East African Community: Redouble efforts to end illicit financial flows and harmful tax incentives in the East African Community East Africa Tax & Governance Network (EATGN) Breaking bad habits: time for @amazonuk to face up … [Read more...]
Vladimir Putin, the KGB and the British and Swiss tax havens
From the New York Review of Books, a look at a book called Putin’s Kleptocracy: Who Owns Russia, by Karen Dawisha. The review itself is fascinating, and for TJN this paragraph is particularly interesting: "Dawisha nevertheless argues that the KGB’s return to power begins not in 2000, when Putin … [Read more...]
Links Dec 1
United Nations starts pounding pavement on the road to Addis Ababa Eurodad Today UK oil and mining transparency becomes reality. U.S. take note. Global Witness See also: U.K. Resources Companies Ordered to Disclose Government Payments Bloomberg The tax wars of Europe The Hindu Business … [Read more...]
Links Nov 26
Leadership needed on tax fairness in Australia The Sydney Morning Herald Multinational tax cases headed for court, Australian Tax Office says Financial Review Microsoft to pay China $140 million for 'tax evasion' Reuters Calls for reform and a resignation over LuxLeaks ICIJ … [Read more...]
Links Nov 25
China’s offshore empires go from help to headache Reuters "When is a Chinese company not Chinese? When it’s a complex web of offshore vehicles rooted in anonymous tax havens." Secret hoards in tax havens Kashmir Times "Goal of limiting tax havens by G20 leaders s unlikely to shed light on … [Read more...]
Corruption behind closed doors
Here's an interesting new map of corruption and illicit financial flows. In this blog titled Is it time for a Different Look at Mapping Corruption, James Cohen, picks up on work by TJN, Global Witness, and Washington-based Global Financial Integrity, and suggests that the time is ripe for leading … [Read more...]
Links Nov 24
Doubt cast on Modi’s quest to find India’s black money overseas Financial Times (paywall) " ... now he is in power Mr Modi is discovering that unearthing illicit funds stashed in Switzerland, Liechtenstein or other tax havens will be a long, tough slog that is unlikely to yield windfall … [Read more...]
Not In My Name: remarkable, rare voices of remorse and mortification in Luxembourg
We have often remarked on how easy it is for financial services interests to "capture" small tax havens or secrecy jurisdictions. It's a common pattern and a woefully under-studied phenomenon where the capture by global offshore finance extends beyond the policy-making apparatus … [Read more...]
TJN’s monthly Taxcast – November 2014
Le Prix à Payer – The Price we Pay – screenings in Paris
Harold Crooks' new documentary on how tax dodging and tax havens imperil democracy will have its first European cinema release in France in January 2015. Ahead of the release, the French distributors are arranging special screenings in Paris in mid-December 2014. Full details are here: … [Read more...]
Links Nov 21
FATCA: Are Transnational Criminal Networks Influencing US Policy? Huffington Post Mauritius Emerges As Biggest Investor In India InSerbia News Anti-corruption bar set higher, but Australia still has more to do The Conversation Taxing mines is a daunting task Zambia Daily Mail … [Read more...]
