We published a long rebuttal yesterday to an attack on TJN by two U.S. academics, supported by the lobbying arm of the British tax haven of Jersey, which has publicised it at a conference in London today. The attack focused quite heavily on our 2012 report The Price of Offshore Revisited, which … [Read more...]
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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...]
On Piketty, mathematical silliness, inherited wealth and mysterious entities
From the book everyone's talking about, Thomas Piketty's Capital in the 21st Century, a review by Paul Krugman in the New York Review of Books: "Why does inherited wealth play as small a part in today’s public discourse as it does? Piketty suggests that the very size of inherited fortunes in a way … [Read more...]
The Cost of Tax Abuse, 2011
A briefing paper on the cost of tax evasion worldwide, 2011. Cost of Tax Abuse TJN 2011 Highlights: Total tax evasion in excess of US$3.1 trillion, or 5.1% of global GDP, is due to activity in the shadow economy. Only a minority part of this is due to tax havens. Total healthcare … [Read more...]
Report: the Sorry State of U.S. Corporate Taxes, 2008-2012
A major new report from the indefatigable Citizens for Tax Justice in the U.S. The Executive Summary begins: The Sorry State of Corporate Taxes What Fortune 500 Firms Pay (or Don’t Pay) in the USA And What they Pay Abroad — 2008 to 2012 … [Read more...]
France’s CAC 40: over 1500 tax haven affiliates
From Le Monde: "The corporations in the CAC 40 [France's benchmark stock exchange index of the 40 biggest French stocks] have over 1,500 affiliates in tax havens, according to a study published on Thursday by the journal Project . . . cross-checked with authoritative studies data (the work of the … [Read more...]
Your tax cuts at work
British prime minister David Cameron has announced that money is no object when it comes to tackling the floods now inundating towns to the west of London. … [Read more...]
GFI: $410bn illicit flows in or out of Philippines from 1960-2011
February 4, 2014 Philippine Economy Loses US2.9 Billion in Illicit Financial Outflows from Crime, Corruption, Tax Evasion over 52-Year Period; US7.6 Billion Transferred Illegally into the Philippines Smuggling through Trade Misinvoicing Cost Philippine Taxpayers at Least US$23 Billion in … [Read more...]
Links Jan 24
"ChinaLeaks" Stories Censored In Mainland China ICIJ See also: China mobilizes cyber-cops after leak on elite overseas wealth globalpost, Chinese media speaks no evil over Offshore Leaks Deutsche Welle, Latest update: Release Of Offshore Records Draws Worldwide Response and searchable Offshore … [Read more...]
China Leaks: how the BVI became China’s foreign tax haven of choice
The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists has pulled another humdinger of an investigation, publishing a Who's Who in China's offshore circles. We could highlight any number of things from this excellent report, but we'll choose just two: … [Read more...]
The Price of Offshore, Revisited
July 22, 2012 Update, June 2014: TJN responds to attacks on the report (pdf here). MAIN REPORT 1 - The Price of Offshore Revisited: TJN's in-depth and unprecedented study into the size of the offshore system of tax havens and/or secrecy jurisdictions. The report estimates that some $21-32 … [Read more...]
Jersey: A Case Study in Path Dependence
This blog is part of a series highlighting the narrative reports from a number of secrecy jurisdictions around the world, explaining how they became offshore financial centres. Jersey ranked ninth on the 2013 Financial Secrecy Index. … [Read more...]
Offshore Corporate Profits: The Only Thing ‘Trapped’ Is Tax Revenue
From the Center for American Progress (hat tip: AABA), in the context of news reports of trillions of dollars in U.S. overseas profits "trapped" overseas, just waiting to be invested in the struggling U.S. economy - if only it could somehow be "unlocked" (such as through a corporate tax amnesty.) … [Read more...]
The twilight of the international tax consensus
That's the headline of a provocative article by U.S. rock star tax expert Lee Sheppard, … [Read more...]
Do tax cuts promote growth? Part MCXIV
The world's economists have been arguing over this question for decades. Which is odd, because the evidence is rather clear on this point. … [Read more...]
