Page 50 – Tax Justice Network

Find your local Fair Tax business: Launch of the Fair Tax Map

Our good friends at the Fair Tax Mark in the UK have been pioneering a means for businesses to demonstrate their commitment to tax transparency, and to paying the right amount of tax at the right time and in the right place. (And what business wouldn’t want to do that?) Already the Fair Tax Mark has been obtained by businesses ranging from local traders to some of the biggest UK companies in the FTSE100 – and now people in the UK can find their nearest Fair Tax shop or office at over 2000 locations with the interactive Fair Tax Map.

Why does Fair Tax matter? You know why. Please check out http://www.fairtaxmap.com and spread the word.

Our February 2017 Spanish language Podcast: Justicia ImPositiva, nuestro podcast de febrero 2017

Welcome to this month’s podcast and radio programme in Spanish with Marcelo Justo and Marta Nuñez, downloaded and broadcast on radio networks across Latin America and Spain. ¡Bienvenidos y bienvenidas a nuestro podcast y programa radiofonica! (abajo en castellano). In this month’s programme: Continue reading “Our February 2017 Spanish language Podcast: Justicia ImPositiva, nuestro podcast de febrero 2017” →

Trusts – Weapons of Mass Injustice: new Tax Justice Network report

It is a fact that the trust laws of some tax havens openly promote illegality. The reality that some tax havens will not enforce foreign laws (e.g. ensuring non-recognition of foreign laws and judgements that favoured legitimate heirs and former spouses) is even publicly advertised by some offshore service providers, not on the deep web like drugs and illegal weapons, but on the internet, accessed by a simple google search on tax or estate planning.

Despite this, there has been some reluctance from governments to take on the issue of trusts, and some difficulties posed for governments that have attempted to deal with some of their more problematic features. Today, a new paper called Trusts – Weapons of Mass Injustice from the Tax Justice Network attempts to reopen the debate on trusts, and argues that there is urgent need for effective measures to curtail their activities. This paper is also available in Spanish here. Continue reading “Trusts – Weapons of Mass Injustice: new Tax Justice Network report” →

The Tax Justice Network’s webinar on the next Financial Secrecy Index

The Tax Justice Network’s Financial Secrecy Index ranks jurisdictions according to their secrecy and the scale of their offshore financial activities. It’s a politically neutral ranking, the world’s most effective tool for understanding global financial secrecy, tax havens and secrecy jurisdictions, and illicit financial flows or capital flight. The Tax Justice Network is working hard on the results of the next Financial Secrecy Index.

What’s coming next?

We’re calling campaigners, researchers and lovers of tax justice and financial transparency to make sure you know that tomorrow, on 14^th February 2017 at 14:00 CET we warmly welcome you to attend our first Financial Secrecy Index monthly call in the form of a webinar. Continue reading “The Tax Justice Network’s webinar on the next Financial Secrecy Index” →

Panama Papers Committee investigates in London UK, home to 2,000 ‘enablers’

UPDATE: 15 February 2017, London – Bloomberg has reported that the chairman of the EU’s Panama Papers inquiry has criticised the UK Treasury for refusing to meet with its investigatory team during the recent fact-finding visit to London. Read more here.

Last year the Panama Papers scandal shook the world and lifted the lid on murky offshore dealings in spectacular fashion. The political consequences and investigations, criminal and otherwise are far from over. The European Parliament set up the Panama Papers inquiry committee tasked with investigating “alleged contraventions and maladministration in the application by the EU Commission or member states of EU laws on money laundering, tax avoidance and tax evasion.” Today Bloomberg reports that the committee begins a series of ‘secret fact-finding meetings’ in London for two days. It has come to the heart of the beast. Continue reading “Panama Papers Committee investigates in London UK, home to 2,000 ‘enablers’” →

Transparency, Lobbying and Fake News: how transparent are think tanks?

Never has it been more critical to understand think tanks and their activities which often shape the news and are highly influential. But how transparent are they about who funds them? And how confident can we be in the integrity of their research and their intellectual independence? The organisation Transparify provides the first-ever global rating of the financial transparency of major think tanks and today released its 2017 report on 27 British think tanks. This is something that’s much needed elsewehere in the world in the age of ‘fake news’ and the so-called ‘post-truth era’. According to the report ‘Seven dark money groups spend £22 million to influence UK politics.’ More on dark money later.

Continue reading “Transparency, Lobbying and Fake News: how transparent are think tanks?” →

Tax Justice and Women’s Rights, global days of action are coming

The Tax Justice Network is supporting global partners in highlighting the impact of regressive tax policies and financial secrecy on women’s fundamental human rights, something we campaign on and write about. Here’s some information about the #TaxJustice for Women’s Rights Global Days of Action. The dates for your diary are 8-24 March 2017.

Continue reading “Tax Justice and Women’s Rights, global days of action are coming” →

Brexit Britain: what does the public think about tax haven plans?

In January 2017 Britain’s finance minister Philip Hammond and prime minister Theresa May signalled that Britain could deepen its role as a tax haven if it left the European Single Market post-Brexit. Continue reading “Brexit Britain: what does the public think about tax haven plans?” →

TJN moves forward with work on 2017 Financial Secrecy Index

The next financial secrecy index has now reached its first big milestone with questionnaires being sent out to 112 jurisdictions.

Continue reading “TJN moves forward with work on 2017 Financial Secrecy Index” →

Is tax avoidance at the heart of Ireland’s economic miracle?

Coming out of the economic crisis Ireland was one of the best performing economies, with GDP growth rates of 8.5% in 2014 and an extraordinary 26.3% in 2015. But how much of this economic activity was real, and how much a fiction created by Ireland’s tax haven status? A new paper by Heike Joebges of the University of Applied Science in Berlin considers the evidence.

Continue reading “Is tax avoidance at the heart of Ireland’s economic miracle?” →

The Independent Commission for the Reform of International Corporate Taxation is hiring

The Independent Commission for the Reform of International Corporate Taxation is a unique body of prominent and influential thinkers, from both developing and developed nations which promotes international corporate tax reform from the perspective of global public interest. The Steering Group of ICRICT is seeking to recruit a Head of Secretariat, to lead a small Secretariat that supports the Commissioners in their work. Continue reading “The Independent Commission for the Reform of International Corporate Taxation is hiring” →

Our January 2017 Spanish language Podcast: Justicia ImPositiva, nuestro podcast de enero 2017

Welcome to this month’s podcast and radio programme in Spanish with Marcelo Justo and Marta Nunez, downloaded and broadcast on radio networks across Latin America and Spain. ¡Bienvenidos y bienvenidas a nuestro podcast y programa radiofonica! (abajo en castellano). This month: Continue reading “Our January 2017 Spanish language Podcast: Justicia ImPositiva, nuestro podcast de enero 2017” →

Tax haven UK? It already is…

There has been much talk of the threats from the British Chancellor to turn the UK into a full-blown tax haven post-Brexit if the European Union doesn’t give it a good trade deal. We discussed ‘Brexit threats’ in our January podcast. Now our Director Alex Cobham has written an article for Politico on how, contrary to how it may appear, Brexit actually gives Brussels more power to address British tax and financial secrecy. Continue reading “Tax haven UK? It already is…” →

Information exchange needs to go beyond tax

The Tax Justice Network is today publishing a report on how governments might improve on proposals to implement automatic exchange of information for tax purposes. The report is based on a survey which was sent to more than 100 tax authorities. One of the most conclusive responses came in how authorities could use the information received from abroad. In this blog post we explore the issue.

Continue reading “Information exchange needs to go beyond tax” →

Tax justice and public contracts, Brexit threats, criminal dodges and crackdowns in our January 2017 podcast

In this month’s Taxcast, our monthly podcast: we look at tax justice and public procurement – the efforts to hit tax dodging companies where it really hurts on a local level – trying to stop them bidding for public money for public contracts. Also:

how massive amounts of money are flowing into Tax Haven USA to circumvent the flawed Common Reporting Standard – South Dakota is apparently raking in tax evading capital
the slippery world of ‘residence planning’ and the ‘synthetic residency’ dodge
we discuss the UK’s Criminal Finances Bill likely to be passed this year, which includes proposals for ‘Unexplained Wealth Orders’ and holding tax evading enablers to account. An amendment to the bill could force UK satellite tax havens, the overseas territories to create public registers of the real owners of companies, something they’ve so far refused to do.
and we consider the British threat to the EU: ‘if you give us a bad Brexit deal, we’ll push regulation-lite, tax haven UK even further in a race to the bottom and shoot ourselves in the foot.’

Continue reading “Tax justice and public contracts, Brexit threats, criminal dodges and crackdowns in our January 2017 podcast” →

Guest Post – Snowstorm – tax havens and organised crime today

Organised crime has had a long association with tax havens, and tax evasion. After All, Al Capone was imprisoned for tax evasion, and not any of the other crimes that it is said he committed. But how much do governments and police forces include tackling tax havens in their thinking of modern organised crime? Not much according to two experts on the issue Mary Young and Michael Woodwiwiss. Continue reading “Guest Post – Snowstorm – tax havens and organised crime today” →

The real losers of the UK becoming a tax haven

For months the public and governments around the world have been totally mystified at the lack of any plan coming from the UK government on how it intends to extract itself from the European Union following the Brexit referendum in June 2016.

On Sunday the British Chancellor of the Exchequer revealed the hand of the May government. As seems to have become the tradition, he did so in a European newspaper. It appears that the UK is now openly threatening to turn itself into the world’s largest tax haven if the EU does not yield to its demands for free access to the European market. Continue reading “The real losers of the UK becoming a tax haven” →

UK tax authority awareness raising for children on the importance of tax

The UK’s tax authority HMRC (Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs) has an educational youtube video for children which is, in their words ‘A simple introduction to tax for 8 to 11 year olds, which explains that taxes provide the money needed to pay for the things that are essential to them, their families, communities and society as a whole.’

Seems reasonable. It’s about time they made an effort to talk about why tax is so important rather than focus their energy on threatening people with awareness that there’s a hefty penalty coming their way if they don’t get hurry up and file their tax returns before the deadline. Continue reading “UK tax authority awareness raising for children on the importance of tax” →

Review of 2016

2016: a year of fireworks (photo CC)

2016 was the year when the world underwent profound political change. Most notably there were a series of political earthquakes in the US and Europe, with the election of Donald Trump and the decision of the UK to exit the European Union.

Going into 2017 these changes look likely to have a deep and lasting impact on tax policy and the distribution of wealth.

Continue reading “Review of 2016” →

Ownership Avoidance, the Great Escape in the Tax Justice Network December 2016 Podcast

In our December 2016 Taxcast: In trusts we trust? We look at the new game in town: beneficial ownership avoidance, the booming industry in alternative escape vehicles from public registers and why we must shine the spotlight on all of them.

Plus: we discuss two big stories we think will define 2017: the race to the bottom between nations on tax aka a transfer of wealth to the corporate community, and how the world’s biggest havens are increasingly having to account for the devastating effect their tax and/or financial secrecy policies are having on human rights around the world… We also report from the appeal of tax justice heroes Antoine Deltour and Rapahel Halet in Luxembourg. Continue reading “Ownership Avoidance, the Great Escape in the Tax Justice Network December 2016 Podcast” →

Neoliberalism and the Moral Economy of Fraud: book review by Atul Shah

In Neoliberalism and the Moral Economy of Fraud, (Routledge, 2016) David Whyte and Jörg Wiegratz offer an edited collection exploring how neoliberalism has enabled the proliferation of systemic fraud across different geographical and social settings. Continue reading “Neoliberalism and the Moral Economy of Fraud: book review by Atul Shah” →

Tackling unfair tax treaties between developing countries and the UK, in UK Parliament today

Today the British Parliament will debate a Bill that tries to tackle unfair tax treaties between the UK and developing countries, some of which go back to the 1940s, sometimes when countries were still British colonies. It’s an initiative we very much welcome and we hand over to our friends at Action Aid UK to tell you more about it: Continue reading “Tackling unfair tax treaties between developing countries and the UK, in UK Parliament today” →

Thank you!