Tax Justice and Human Rights Research Collaboration Symposium
Faculty of Law, McGill University, Montreal, 18-20 June 2014
Day 1: Emerging Scholars Symposium
Wednesday 18 June Continue reading “Programme: Tax Justice and Human Rights Symposium, McGill University, Montreal 18-20 June 2014”
We have written at some length about Credit Suisse’s attempted defences of its long-standing business model, highlighted in a headline “Credit Suisse CEO says a few bankers are to blame for $10bn in tax evasion.” As we said:
“The old ‘a few rotten apples’ defence.
“Some Swiss-based private bankers went to great lengths to disguise their bad conduct from Credit Suisse executive management,” Dougan said during his testimony in Washington DC.
Oh yeah? Here’s a more accurate description, Mr. Dougan: it’s institutionalised corruption and criminality in the entire Swiss banking system, for over a century.
Now we see, from a private asset recovery group:
“Credit Suisse is set to sign a document admitting it had unwittingly run a “criminal enterprise” in its past wooing of US tax dodgers (media reports).
“We were running a criminal enterprise, but we didn’t know,” reads the document cited by the media. However, we dispute that they didn’t know – and have the documents to back us up.”
Interesting. Let’s see how this one plays out.
We are delighted to provide a short tax justice film covering the Tax Justice Network seminar on transfer pricing held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, last October.
The full range of presentations are linked below the film, and will be permanently stored on our Transfer Pricing site.
If you missed it last week, you can hear it via the link below. Produced and presented as always by the Tax Justice Network’s @Naomi_Fowler this show focuses on the City of London’s role as a global tax haven hub, the power of the City of London Corporation and unpicks the UK government’s latest claims to be tackling tax havens, secrecy and corporate tax abuse with Tax Justice Network Director John Christensen.
https://soundcloud.com/
All the Taxcast shows can be downloaded here: www.tackletaxhavens.com/
[vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]We don’t quite know who DocHackenbush is, but we thought we’d share his tweet.[/vc_column_text][vc_raw_js]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[/vc_raw_js][vc_column_text]UK Uncut are getting busy with this company again. And now, another tweet to put it in context, from a former UK corporate tax inspector, now turned tax journalist.[/vc_column_text][vc_raw_js]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[/vc_raw_js][/vc_column][/vc_row]
From 100 Reporters, an article about a major report from the University of Manchester, which is a fascinating case study in transfer pricing. The article begins:
“At every step, from mine to ring finger, South Africa’s diamond industry is benefitting from royalty and export tax structures riddled with loopholes, shortchanging citizens of one of the world’s premier sources of diamonds of tens of millions of dollars a year in revenue.
In 2011, South Africa produced diamonds whose uncut, or rough, value was $1.73 billion, or 12 percent of global production, according to the most recent government data available. Yet from 2010 to 2011, diamond-producing companies paid South Africa’s government just $11 million in mining royalties Continue reading “South Africa’s diamond companies: $11m royalties on $1.73bn of production”
Yul Brynner in 1985
Bloomberg is carrying one of those tiresome stories entitled Brynner’s Tax Spat Augurs Rush to Give Up U.S. Passports. Tax people too much, it goes, and there’ll be a deluge of people rushing for the exit! The story begins:
“Almost 50 years after Oscar-winning actor Yul Brynner gave up his passport at the U.S. embassy in the Swiss capital, the number of Americans relinquishing their citizenship jumped 47 percent in the first quarter.”
Panic time! Continue reading “It’s (faux) tax panic time again – the U.S./Swiss edition”
From Domini Social Investments LLC, a corporate pioneer in the area of tax and social responsibility, which recently submitted a shareholder resolution to Google merely to adopt a set of principles on paying tax. The quote goes:
“Investors should be asking Google and other multinationals to adopt ethical principles to guide their tax strategies, considering their impact on society and brand value. Continue reading “Quote of the day – Google’s tax avoidance”
We are happy to report on some good news sent to us by Sigrid Klæboe Jacobsen, Director of Tax Justice Network – Norway.
“Today, the Norwegian government today has pledged to introduce a “publicly available, digital registry for information on shareholders of companies”. The Norwegian government will now move forward with work on designing an effective registry that will be accessible and publicly available. Continue reading “Norway pledges to introduce public registry on company ownership”
Elizabeth Warren
via Wikimedia Commons
Regarding corporations paying their way, the trailblazing U.S. senator Elizabeth Warren:
You built a factory out there? Good for you. But I want to be clear. You moved your goods to market on the roads the rest of us paid for. You hired workers the rest of us paid to educate. You were safe in your factory because of police-forces and fire-forces that the rest of us paid for. You didn’t have to worry that marauding bands would come and seize everything at your factory — and hire someone to protect against this — because of the work the rest of us did. Continue reading “Quote of the day: Elizabeth Warren”
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]A fascinating little two-minute video from Tax Analysts in the U.S., via this tweet. It’s very clear and simple; it’s less than three minutes long, and it concludes by saying “some businesses are audit-proof.” If you’re busy, the most interesting part of the explanation starts after about 1:10.[/vc_column_text][vc_raw_js]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[/vc_raw_js][vc_column_text]As Tax Analysts note:
“In widely held partnerships, there can be thousands of direct partners, many of which might themselves be partnerships. And because ownership in some partnership is traded, just like ownership of stock, someone can be a partner for just a matter of minutes.
There are partnerships that have several hundred thousand ultimate partners. That’s a lot of tax bills to issue. Chances are: the IRS won’t bother with it.
These partnerships essentially shield the partners’ income and deductions from challenge by the IRS. Any partnership item claimed on the partner’s individual return is essentially untouchable.
You are accountable to the I.R.S. for your income. But the owners of some large businesses – some of the wealthiest people in America – aren’t.”
It’s scary stuff.
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From The Corporation, by Joel Bakan
. . . via top-ranked U.S. tax professor Reuven Avi-Yonah, in a paper entitled Just Say No: Corporate Taxation and Social Responsibility. It is US-focused, but has wide relevance.
This, in fact, can be seen as another justification of imposing tax on the corporation: Rather than bear any social responsibility, the corporation can by paying its taxes shift that responsibility to the state, where it belongs. Continue reading “Another reason why corporations may want to be taxed properly”
From Christian Aid, a press release:
“The secrecy surrounding thousands of subsidiaries created in tax havens by leading UK companies has created a black hole at the heart of the FTSE100, a new Christian Aid report warns today. Continue reading “Report: the black hole at the heart of London’s FTSE100”
From our friends at Eurodad:
African Countries Lose Billions through Misinvoiced Trade
Fraudulent Trade Transactions Channeled at Least US$60.8 Billion Illegally in or out of 5 African Countries from 2002-2011 Continue reading “African Countries Lose Billions through Misinvoiced Trade”
Here’s something for the weekend. The American Interest has just published this article by Ben Judah, whose previous article on why Russia no longer fears the West caused such a stir earlier this year. The title says it all: How Offshore Finance Sank Western Soft Power. Continue reading ““Western tax havens have resulted in Ukrainian deaths””
A while ago we explained how tax avoidance by multinational corporations is like refined sugar in the human body: empty financial calories with adverse long-term health effects.
Now we have an article from Financial Times columnist John Gapper, who has looked at the tax-arbitrage nonsense driving the proposed Pfizer-AstraZeneca deal, and has reached very similar conclusions to us in our recent blog on the matter. As Gapper nicely puts it:
“Companies put together purely for tax reasons – with no industrial or cultural logic behind them – will be fragile. Continue reading “Why companies put together for tax reasons will be fragile”
Tax avoidance and tax evasion are forms of tax abuse, which are often hard to distinguish from one another
The Domini Social Equity Fund and its partners have submitted a shareholder proposal to Google for its annual meeting on May 14th urging it to do something about its systematic tax abuses. We just blogged a petition in support of this proposal, which we’d urge readers to sign.
The shareholder resolution, whose supporting documents contain a wealth of canny analysis, goes like this: Continue reading “Ethical shareholders call on Google to stop its tax abuses”
From an excellent new article in Foreign Affairs, by Ken Silverstein. It concerns the commodity trading giant Glencore, which Reuters once called “the biggest company you never heard of,” and which went public in May 2011.
“What the IPO filing did not make clear was just how Glencore, founded four decades ago by Marc Rich, a defiant friend of dictators and spies who later became one of the world’s richest fugitives, achieved this kind of global dominance.” Continue reading “How Glencore made its money”
A couple of years ago poet Steve Pottinger penned this eloquent reaction to the anger he felt about Starbucks’ corporate tax avoidance. In similar vein he’s now sent the following letter to the management of Caffe Nero. Continue reading “Caffe Nero: your unpaid taxes would have helped pay for my father’s hospital care”
From Le Monde:
After intense diplomatic negotiations, [Switzerland and Singapore] are expected to sign an official declaration resolving to engage in automatic information exchange, alongside more than 40 other countries – including 34 OECD member states, but also G20 non-OECD member states, including China and Russia.
According to our information, this surprise is expected to happen in Paris, at a meeting of the OECD.
The announcement of the ‘surrender’ of Switzerland and Singapore — two countries http://healthsavy.com/product/kamagra/ whose economies are built on finance and inviolable banking secrecy, and who have for a long time been resistant to any change — should be seen as a major advance in the global battle against tax evasion.”
Let’s see what happens. Fascinating, if true.
A petition, with over 100,000 signatures so far, begins like this.
“Google isn’t paying its taxes. The multi-billion dollar corporation has been under scrutiny for shifting using shell companies in Bermuda, Ireland and elsewhere to shelter at least $33 billion of revenue. Continue reading “Petition: Google, pay your taxes!”