![](https://taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/nicshax-1-150x150.jpg)
Nick Shaxson ■ Quote 2 of the day: shareholders, tax avoidance and refined sugar
![tax_justice_placeholder](https://taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/fly-images/9091/tax_justice_placeholder-1400x600-c.jpg)
A second quote of the day, this time from the Financial Times’ Lombard column, a musing on the current U.S. focused news about corporate inversions:
“Transactions sold on tax advantages should be sources of shareholder unease too. Governments can readily change their minds about corporate tax regimes (see above) and, more importantly, companies should be looking to industrial logic and more reliable financial benefits to justify M&A, not depending on tax wheezes to make the numbers stack up.”
Indeed. Or, as UK barrister David Quentin noted recently for TJN:
“Tax avoidance in companies is like refined sugar in the human body – empty financial calories with adverse long-term health effects.”
Related articles
![OECD podium - U.S. Department of State from United States, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons OECD podium](https://taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/fly-images/16449/OECD-podium-U.S.-Department-of-State-from-United-States-Public-domain-via-Wikimedia-Commons-380x210-c.png)
Litany of failure: new briefing sets out OECD’s manifold shortcomings in international tax talks
![A smartphone screen displaying a menu of several social media apps - PEXELS A smartphone screen displaying a menu of several social media apps](https://taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/fly-images/16867/A-smartphone-screen-displaying-a-menu-of-several-social-media-apps-PEXELS-scaled-380x210-c.jpg)
The Tax Justice Network’s most read pieces in 2023
![A row of small red house-shaped toy pieces on a table - UNSPLASH](https://taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/fly-images/17353/A-row-of-small-red-house-shaped-toy-pieces-on-a-table-UNSPLASH-scaled-380x210-c.jpg)
Our response to the FATF’s consultation on Guidance on Recommendation 25 on beneficial ownership transparency for legal arrangements
![2b5d58b2-8cd5-46aa-bc17-6c99f4af5df5](https://taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/fly-images/17037/2b5d58b2-8cd5-46aa-bc17-6c99f4af5df5-380x210-c.jpeg)
#55 Tous pour une Convention Fiscale Internationale des Nations Unies
![Impôts et Justice Sociale green logo](https://taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/fly-images/16902/Impots-et-Justice-Sociale-green-logo-1-380x210-c.jpg)
Finance climat en Afrique: Une urgence pour les administrations fiscales #54
![monopoly board game go to jail - PEXELS](https://taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/fly-images/14676/monopoly-board-game-go-to-jail-PEXELS-scaled-380x210-c.jpg)
Strengthening the fight against money laundering: Criminalisation of the EU directive
![DW screenshot](https://taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/fly-images/16656/DW-screenshot-380x210-c.jpg)
Can the UN succeed? Top questions about our State of Tax Justice report
![The United Nations building in afternoon sunlight with country flags in the foreground - UNSPLASH The United Nations building in afternoon sunlight with country flags in the foreground](https://taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/fly-images/16597/The-United-Nations-building-in-afternoon-sunlight-with-country-flags-in-the-foreground-UNSPLASH-scaled-380x210-c.jpg)
Why the world needs UN leadership on global tax policy
![Business man in pin stripe suit carrying a black briefcase walking down a sidewalk - UNSPLASH Business man in pin stripe suit carrying a black briefcase walking down a sidewalk](https://taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/fly-images/16501/Business-man-in-pin-stripe-suit-carrying-a-black-briefcase-walking-down-a-sidewalk-UNSPLASH-scaled-e1689329329593-380x210-c.jpg)
The unexploited silver bullet to tackle enablers: mandatory disclosure rules
![man-in-window-silhouette-landscape crop](https://taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/fly-images/5291/man-in-window-silhouette-landscape-crop-1-380x210-c.jpg)