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The 2015 Financial Secrecy Index in the global media

From The Economist print edition

Since its first publication in 2009, TJN’s Financial Secrecy Index has helped transform public understanding of the geography of tax havens. This has been helped by the huge international press coverage the index receives. This week’s launch of the 2015 FSI results has been no exception, with literally hundreds of articles in the international and national presses, including the local presses of the smaller secrecy jurisdictions. Continue reading “The 2015 Financial Secrecy Index in the global media” →

Rangers lose the big tax case: what now?

The Offshore Game, a TJN-supported site dedicated to looking at tax havenry in sport, published this long article about Scotland’s Rangers football club yesterday. It is important not just for the interests involved, but because of principles at stake, not least concerning discretionary trusts (see our primer on trusts here.)

Update: UK barrister Jolyon Maugham has commented on this case, on Radio Scotland. He said he expects this case to be successfully appealed (we disagree) but he added, dramatically:

“If this decision is not appealed to the Supreme Court or the Supreme Court decides in HMRC’s favour on an appeal, it will knock out almost all if not all employee benefit trust planning. So it is an incredibly powerful decision.”

He added that he thought there would be rather more than 5,000 such schemes in operation in the UK: so this is indeed a big deal.

We should add as something of a riposte to Maugham (who wasn’t very specific about the reasons why he expects the case to be successfully appealed) that public opinion has shifted decisively in this area, and Supreme Court judges do pay great attention to the public mood.

See also the January 2015 Taxcast on the Rangers offshore disaster.

Anyway, the following article also reminds us of how this kind of stuff – tax dodging via offshore arrangements – distorts competition in markets – as we explained recently. Here’s the OG article, in full.

Ibrox Stadium: Creative Commons licence from Diego Sideburns https://www.flickr.com/photos/diego_sideburns/

RANGERS LOSE THE BIG TAX CASE – WHAT NOW?

Today, the Court of Session in Scotland ruled in favour of Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs in the Big Tax Case. The Big Tax Case was a challenge to Rangers’ use of an offshore tax avoidance scheme to pay its players. Continue reading “Rangers lose the big tax case: what now?” →

Fifty Shades of Tax Dodging: how EU helps support unjust global tax systems

A major new report written by civil society organisations in 14 countries across the EU, co-ordinated by Eurodad.

Fifty Shades of Tax Dodging: the EU’s role in supporting an unjust global tax system

Continue reading “Fifty Shades of Tax Dodging: how EU helps support unjust global tax systems” →

TJN unveils its new Financial Secrecy Index

Today the Tax Justice Network launches the 2015 Financial Secrecy Index, the biggest ever survey of global financial secrecy. This unique index combines a secrecy score with a weighting to create a ranking of the secrecy jurisdictions and countries that most actively promote secrecy in global finance.

The full press release is here.

The Financial Secrecy Index is here. For the larger jurisdictions you can click on a country to receive a full historical narrative of how that place became a secrecy jurisdiction or tax haven. Continue reading “TJN unveils its new Financial Secrecy Index” →

Luxembourg – how’s that tax cleanup going?

[vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]An interesting and important tweet.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_raw_js]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[/vc_raw_js][vc_column_text](The source appears to be this.)

Now the truth is – as we’ll be demonstrating in our imminent Financial Secrecy Index 2015 to be launched worldwide on Monday – that Luxembourg has in fact made *some* improvements recently to its secrecy offering, in the sense that it’s become a bit less secretive and less aggressive in terms of undermining European schemes to boost transparency.

But there is still a long way to go. For a blistering account of Luxembourg’s recent role in financial globalisation, take a look at FT Alphaville’s recent The Case Against Luxembourg.

Here is a taster.

and we can’t ignore this one either: not least for the headline.

There are plenty more where these came from.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

NYT on The Price We Pay: exacting, disturbing, enlightening, must be heard

From the New York Times:

“Throughout the world, inequality is soaring to new heights, and the wealth of nations, which once provided prosperity to the majority, has gone missing.” So begins the narration for “The Price We Pay,” Harold Crooks’s exacting and disturbing documentary about offshore tax havens for multinational corporations, the growing concentration of money within a narrow minority, and the erosion of social benefits. The ideas in this densely packed but enlightening film can be challenging, but must be heard.”

Continue reading “NYT on The Price We Pay: exacting, disturbing, enlightening, must be heard” →

Our 3rd Spanish Podcast: Nuestro Tercer podcast en Castellano

En la tercera edición de Justicia ImPositiva hablamos con Luis Moreno, economista y coordinador de la Red de Justicia Fiscal de América Latina y el Caribe y responsable del área de justicia fiscal del @latindadd sobre las reformas del sistema tributario mundial.

Y despues ¿quién dijo que estaba todo perdido? Hay una luz de esperanza en el camino. Hablamos con experto y asesor de Tax Justice Network @TaxJusticeNet Krishen Mehta sobre unas alternativas en la lucha por una tributación más justa y equitativa que los gobiernos pueden hacer ya sin esperar más, acciones que de hecho algunos gobiernos ya han implementado. Tambien hablamos con miembro del observatorio de justicia fiscal y financiera global de la organización ATTAC-Madrid @robergonpane y con Andrés Knobel de Tax Justice Network.

Bienvenid@s a este nuevo podcast @J_ImPositiva con @silvia1olmedo y @monicamarchesi y coordinado por @Naomi_Fowler para @TaxJusticeNet www.taxjustice.net

Tambien estamos en Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Justicia-ImPositiva/146480…

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAbY0dVbcVQ&feature=youtu.be

Para más información o suscribirte: Justicia ImPositiva: justiciaimpositiva@taxjustice.net

How the wealth managers do it: an in-depth investigation

Brooke Harrington

The Atlantic is carrying a truly fascinating article entitled Inside the Secretive World of Tax-Avoidance Experts. And this researcher, Brooke Harrington, went to town on it:

“Given the little that is known about the profession and its role in global inequality, it seemed imperative to learn more about how wealth managers pull off this sleight of hand. . . . taking advantage of a research fellowship I was awarded in Germany, which freed me from teaching and administrative responsibilities for a few years, I decided to jump into the field with both feet. Reader, I trained to become a wealth manager. That initial part of my study took two years, many thousands of dollars, and hundreds of thousands of miles of travel. Although I never practiced as a wealth manager, training to join the profession opened the door to a secretive realm that would otherwise have remained closed to me.”

Continue reading “How the wealth managers do it: an in-depth investigation” →

The Tax Justice Network Podcast, October 2015

In the October 2015 Tax Justice Network Podcast:

We look at the ‘remittance cartel’, their ‘taxing of the poor’ with monopoly prices in a juicy $450-500 billion market. Also: ‘comfort letters’ and the game changing European Commission ruling that the tax agreements between Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Fiat and Starbucks constitute illegal state aid. We analyse the rich country club of the OECD’s BEPS proposals for reform of the global corporate tax system: will it really address corporate tax avoidance and evasion?

The taxcast is also available here.

Featuring: John Christensen of the Tax Justice Network, economist, lawyer and senior Tax Justice Network advisor James Henry, Somalian wife and mother Shamso Abdullahi (interviewed by CCTV Africa), and Pope Francis.

Produced and presented by @Naomi_Fowler for the Tax Justice Network.

You can subscribe to our youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/user/TackleTaxHavens or email Naomi [at] taxjustice.net to be added to the subscriber email list. You can also follow @TheTaxcast on Twitter

Fiscal Policy and Human Rights in the Americas: mobilizing resources to guarantee rights

There is a new initiative emerging from the international strategy meeting, “Advancing Tax Justice through Human Rights,” held in Lima, Peru in April 2015:

Via email from Niko Lusiani of the Center for Economic and Social Rights (CESR):

The first-ever thematic audience of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) on fiscal policy, begins today in Washington, DC.

Economic policies – and consequently fiscal policies – are not normally debated by human rights accountability bodies, but working together we are increasingly building the foundations for them to become forums for fiscal accountability.

Various participants interested in the initiative in Lima teamed up to petition the Inter-American Commission to hold this hearing, and we produced a report – Fiscal Policy and Human Rights in the Americas: mobilizing resources to guarantee rights along with it. (English summary here.)

We’d encourage you to share this news with your networks, watch live here on Thursday, Oct 22nd at 14:45 (local time in Washington DC) and participate on Twitter: #derechosyfiscalidad #tax4humanrights.

European Commission determines state sponsored tax avoidance schemes illegal

Today the European Commission is expected to announce that the ‘comfort letters’ signed between European tax havens and companies are a form of illegal state aid. Continue reading “European Commission determines state sponsored tax avoidance schemes illegal” →

Will civil society shake up the world of tax treaties?

Data source: index based on the forthcoming ActionAid tax treaties dataset

When a multinational company makes a cross-border investment, the relevant tax treaty between the two countries will generally sort out which country gets to tax which part of the ensuing activity and income streams. (Read more about tax treaties here.) A key question is this: how do the ensuing taxing rights over the ensuing income get shared out between a) the country receiving the inward investment (which is the source of the profits, often a poor country); and b) the country where that multinational has residence (often a rich country)?

Given political realities, it’s hardly a surprise that most tax treaties, following an OECD model, generally favour ‘residence’ over ‘source.

Now Martin Hearson has an interesting new post about the UK-Senegal tax treaty. Take a look at that graph (click to enlarge). Continue reading “Will civil society shake up the world of tax treaties?” →

Finance Uncovered: a proper introduction

We’ve linked to Finance Uncovered on several occasions — not least this week — but never as comprehensively as this. From the Byline website, a proper introduction, which nicely illustrates our operating model.

Introducing Finance Uncovered

Global finance has no borders – neither do we. Finance Uncovered is a network of investigative journalists and campaigners from over 50 countries. Nick Mathiason explains how we follow the money and what’s been uncovered so far.

Three years ago, Tax Justice Network director, John Christensen asked me if I would run a course to equip journalists with skills and tools to investigate tax abuse, money laundering and corruption.

On the spot, I said “yes”. Continue reading “Finance Uncovered: a proper introduction” →

What will BEPS fix, and who will gain?

Prof. Sol Picciotto, a TJN Senior Adviser and co-ordinator of the BEPS Monitoring Group

A guest blog by Sol Picciotto, co-ordinator of the BEPS Monitoring Group.

What will BEPS fix, and who will gain?

The launch this week of the final reports from the G20/OECD project on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) has sparked two frequently asked questions. The first is: can we give examples of methods used for tax dodging by multinationals which will not be fixed by these proposals?

The answer is: they will not “fix” any.

Continue reading “What will BEPS fix, and who will gain?” →

Seychelles: the ex-billionaire and the captured state

We’ve never laid down hard and fast definitions of the terms ‘tax haven’ or ‘secrecy jurisdiction’ because there’s so much to say about what makes these places tick, and no short definition captures the whole picture. But we offer this way of thinking about these places. Among other things, it says:

“Secrecy jurisdictions tend to be ‘captured states’, where offshore financial services tends to be deliberately insulated from any domestic political opposition, and relevant laws and approaches to the industry are instead created by small numbers of professional insiders in the jurisdiction in collaboration with offshore financial services interests from elsewhere.”

Continue reading “Seychelles: the ex-billionaire and the captured state” →

Finance Uncovered: how Africa’s biggest cell phone firm shifts billions offshore

From the Mail & Guardian

From Finance Uncovered, a TJN-founded project, a press release about a story that is (among other things) front page of South Africa’s influential Mail & Guardian newspaper.

Finance Uncovered reveals how Africa’s biggest cell phone firm shifts billions offshore

The Finance Uncovered global network of investigative reporters have today published a cross-border investigation into South African telecoms giant MTN exposing how billions of rand from its subsidiaries in Ghana, Nigeria and Uganda have been shifted to a shell company in the small island tax haven of Mauritius.

The two year investigation spanning five countries was published today in South Africa’s Mail and Guardian, ?the U?gandan Observer ?and G?hana Business News.?

A report in Nigeria will follow shortly.
Continue reading “Finance Uncovered: how Africa’s biggest cell phone firm shifts billions offshore” →

On tax credits, economic misunderstandings and the poor

The UK economics writer Chris Dillow has an excellent post making some basic points about tax credits, following a recent speech by the UK’s finance minister (or “Chancellor”) George Osborne, where he says:

“We simply can’t subsidise incomes with ever-higher welfare and tax credit bills the country can’t afford.”

Which begs the question of who “we” and “the country” are.

The first part of Dillow’s response is:

“For a lot of the country, it is not tax credits which are unaffordable, but the cuts in them.”

Continue reading “On tax credits, economic misunderstandings and the poor” →

So: what kinds of corporate tax schemes won’t BEPS stop?

There have been a few inquiries from people in the media looking at our (and others’) recent critiques of the OECD’s recently-released BEPS project proposals to tackle international corporate tax avoidance. One pertinent question is this: which schemes, specifically, won’t BEPS stop?

Prof. Sol Picciotto, a TJN Senior Adviser and co-ordinator of the BEPS Monitoring Group, a network of tax justice groups looking at the project, provided the following answer to this question from a French journalist. Continue reading “So: what kinds of corporate tax schemes won’t BEPS stop?” →

New study: U.S. Fortune 500 cos have $2.1 trillion offshore

From Citizens for Tax justice, via email:

“Today Citizens for Tax Justice and the U.S. PIRG Education Fund released, “Offshore Shell Games,” a new study which found that nearly three-quarters of Fortune 500 companies maintained at least one tax haven subsidiary in 2014, with just 30 companies accounting for 62 percent of earnings stashed offshore.
All told, Fortune 500 companies collectively maintain 7,622 tax haven subsidiaries and hold $2.1 trillion offshore, avoiding up to $620 billion in U.S. taxes. Continue reading “New study: U.S. Fortune 500 cos have $2.1 trillion offshore” →

GATJ: OECD tweaks to tax rules for multinational corporations fall short on transparency, inclusivity

From the Global Alliance for Tax Justice, a press release on the OECD’s BEPS process, which we wrote about yesterday:

“The Global Alliance for Tax Justice (GATJ) is urgently calling for a United Nations-based follow-up process to the “flawed” OECD Base Erosion and Profit Shifting project, in order to deliver an effective and transparent global system for taxing multinational corporations. The Global Alliance for Tax Justice, representing regional networks of civil society groups around the world, says a truly inclusive global tax body and public country-by-country reporting for multinationals are two key measures that need to be established.”

Note our emphasis. There is much more in the press release, however: now read on.

(The GATJ is a body that emerged from TJN but is now organisationally independent from it.)

Our Spanish language podcast: Justicia ImPositiva, Edición 2

Our Spanish language podcast: Justicia ImPositiva, Edición 2. En la segunda edición de Justicia ImPositiva nos vamos a México, a ver cómo el gobierno de ese país intenta forzar a las grandes corporaciones a pagar más impuestos. También hablamos con el economista y catedrático de la Universidad de Sevilla, @JuanTorresLopez, sobre el comportamiento irresponsable y criminal de los bancos y el discurso de austeridad. Además, les preguntamos a ustedes, si tuvieran un escoba, ¿cuáles paraísos fiscales barrerían? Analizaremos cómo se alimenta el círculo vicioso de los paraísos fiscales con John Christensen y Andrés Knobel de Tax Justice Network, quienes nos contarán las claves del funcionamiento de estos cuestionados territorios utilizados por los ricos y las empresas grandes para ocultar sus finanzas y sus transacciones. Bienvenid@s a este nuevo podcast @J_ImPositiva con @silvia1olmedo y @monicamarchesi coordinado por @Naomi_Fowler para @TaxJusticeNet

Press release: OECD’s BEPS proposals will not be the end of tax avoidance by multinationals

PRESS RELEASE

EMBARGOED: 14:00 CET

See this press release in pdf form here.

See the BEPS Monitoring Group’s longer technical evaluation here (or in condensed form here.)

See links to further statements by others below.

OECD’s BEPS proposals will not be the end of tax avoidance by multinationals

Continue reading “Press release: OECD’s BEPS proposals will not be the end of tax avoidance by multinationals” →

RANGERS LOSE THE BIG TAX CASE – WHAT NOW?

Fifty Shades of Tax Dodging: the EU’s role in supporting an unjust global tax system

Introducing Finance Uncovered

What will BEPS fix, and who will gain?

OECD’s BEPS proposals will not be the end of tax avoidance by multinationals

Thank you!