India: Govt refuses to name account holders in tax haven despite Supreme Court order The Times of India "Why is the government reluctant to share the names of Indian tax evaders having accounts in LGT Bank in Liechtenstein with the Supreme Court even when it amounts to contempt of court?". See … [Read more...]
Inequality & Democracy
Links Apr 28
International community continues making progress on tax transparency OECD Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes issues 12 new reports. See here for background and resources on Information Exchange Bahamas claims FATCA exemption for foundations STEP "The … [Read more...]
The Offshore Wrapper: A week in Tax Justice
The Offshore Wrapper is written by George Turner "In Formula One, everyone cheats. The trick is not to get caught." … [Read more...]
Russia and Ukraine: how secrecy jurisdictions undermine international sanctions
From the Financial Times: "Wealthy Russians and Ukrainians are trying to shift more cash into London property, say estate agents, amid indications that eastern European oligarchs are using the capital’s housing market to conceal their assets from international sanctions." … [Read more...]
New report: Inequality, Tax and a Rising Africa?
From Tax Justice Network for Africa and Christian Aid, a new report entitled Africa rising? Inequalities and the essential role of fair taxation. It investigates income inequality in Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe: there has been little definitive … [Read more...]
Links Apr 25
UK Prime Minister's letter to the Overseas Territories on beneficial ownership See also: Transparency call to 'tax havens' The Courier, recent TJN Blog On Britain’s new honesty box for corporate fraudsters, and Turks and Caicos Islands Considers Public Beneficial Ownership Register Tax-News … [Read more...]
Links Apr 24
India to provide info on US tax evaders Business Standard "However, US refuses to share data on foreign assets of Indian entities" … [Read more...]
Quote of the day: William Browder, Russia and Ukraine
In an interview with The American Interest, looking at Ukraine and the looting of the former Soviet Union, the co-founder of Hermitage Capital speaks out - all guns blazing. There are any number of Quotes of the Day we could highlight - but we thought we'd choose this one, prompted by the … [Read more...]
Report: $300 billion in Argentina’s offshore assets
From the Buenos Aires Herald: The total value of Argentines’ offshore assets as a result of capital flight reached US$298.891 billion in 2012, rising more than 250 percent from 1991, the latest report by the Economics and Finance Centre for Argentine Development (CEFID-AR) revealed. … [Read more...]
Mailbox companies and human rights: the Dutch connection
From our colleagues at SOMO in the Netherlands, an excellent article translated from the original in the Volkskrant newspaper. While it focuses on the Netherlands, it is another sign of the growing global awareness of the links between human rights and tax haven and secrecy jurisdiction abuses. Read … [Read more...]
Barclay promoting tax havens: protest at its AGM
Tomorrow (Thursday) Barclays Bank holds its Annual General Meeting in London. This will mark the culmination of ActionAid's ‘Clean Up Barclays’ campaign, which focuses on the bank’s promotion of the use of tax havens – notably Mauritius – for multinational companies looking to invest in Africa. … [Read more...]
Links Apr 22
G20 tax reform mired in shadowy world of lobbying The Conversation UK: The government has created a new honesty box for corporate fraudsters to disclose their crimes and I guarantee not one will Tax Research UK See also: Business Secretary Vince Cable presses ahead with public register on … [Read more...]
The Offshore Wrapper: A week in tax justice
The Offshore Wrapper is written by George Turner Pfizer offshore cash pile fuels AstraZeneca bid … [Read more...]
Links Apr 17
Comments received on discussion draft on Tax Challenges of the Digital Economy published OECD NY regulator subpoenas Credit Suisse in U.S. tax probe: source Reuters … [Read more...]
The Fallacy of Public Sector Affordability
In this guest blog Professor John Weeks, author of Economics of the 1%, explores the assumptions behind the idea that key public services, including education and pension provision are unaffordable. … [Read more...]
