News summaries 2009

News from 2009 (for 2008 click here) In (roughly) chronological order. Use CTRL + F or equivalent to find what you are looking for. Also see the Offshore Watch site, and our own shorter News Highlights section.  



Bank regulators dig in against Obama shake-up
Aug 4 (Reuters) - The officials' defiance, in prepared congressional testimony obtained by Reuters, came despite a warning given to them on Friday by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner in private remarks punctuated with expletives.

UBS not to pay fine in U.S. tax settlement: reports
Aug 2 (Reuters) - Switzerland's UBS will not have to pay a fine as part of the settlement of a tax evasion dispute with the United States, two Swiss newspapers reported on Sunday.

Markets can be wrong and the price is not always right
As economics began to stress mathematical models, economists found that the simplest models to solve were those that assumed everyone in the economy was rational. This is similar to doing physics without bothering with the messy bits caused by friction. s early as 1984 Robert Shiller, the economist, correctly and boldly called this “one of the most remarkable errors in the history of economic thought”.

The case for company-by-company reporting
Aug 4 (Tax Research UK ) - Why company-by-company reporting is the way to go.

Neal Reintroduces Offshore Reinsurance Tax Bill
Aug 5 (Tax-News) – US Congressman Richard E. Neal has resubmitted legislation in the House of Representatives that seeks to curb tax advantages for reinsurance operations based offshore.

Council tax revaluation could penalise homes with a view
Jul 26 (Telegraph) - Thousands of people with views of the sea, mountains or rivers could pay more tax after the next election under plans to overhaul council tax, documents released under the Freedom of Information act have disclosed.

Tax Evaders Flock to IRS to Confess Their Sins
Jul 30 (WSJ) - Wealthy taxpayers have inundated the Internal Revenue Service in recent weeks with requests to come clean for past tax evasion, amid a government crackdown on undeclared income from overseas accounts.

Young conservatives fight for banking secrecy
Aug 4 (swissinfo.ch) - The youth branch of the rightwing Swiss People's Party has joined a campaign to protect banking secrecy by collecting signatures for a people's initiative.

Caymans court orders freeze on $9bn
Jul 30 (FT) - A Cayman Islands court has ordered a worldwide freeze of assets belonging to Maan al Sanea and dozens of his companies in a ruling that steps up the pressure on the Saudi billionaire who is struggling with financial difficulties.

GM’s Tax Shelter
Jul 31 (WSJ) - As everyone else’s taxes rise, one favored outfit may not have to pay federal taxes for years: General Motors. In another sweet deal from its benefactors on Pennsylvania Avenue, the government-owned car company is set to profit from billions of dollars in tax breaks not available to other businesses in the same predicament.

Law to tax cos routing investments via tax havens
Aug 4 (The Hindu Business Line) - The Government is mulling new laws to bring into the tax net domestic companies which deliberately route their overseas investments through tax havens to avoid paying taxes at home.

Sierra Leone Graft Panel Bags Huge Sums From Officials
Aug 4 (AFP)--The Anti-Corruption Commission in Sierra Leone said Monday it has recovered over 1 billion leones ($306 million) for the first six months in 2009 as "settlements from corruption-related cases."

Subsides à gogo, et surtout pas d’impôts
25 Jul (Le Soir) - A look into some material put together with the help of Rudolf Elmer, former chief executive officer of a Cayman subsidiary of Julius Baer bank. In French.

Wächter in der Zwickmühle
Aug 4 (Der Spiegel) - Der Spiegel magazine looks at the anti-corruption organisation Transparency International and its funding sources. In German. 

Tax haven seeks taxpayer compliance
April 30 (TJN) - Bahamas is running short of money. There is outrage that non-compliance by local taxpayers is at the root of the problem. They might take a moment to consider the revenue costs that offshore centres like the Bahamas force on other developing countries.

Inequality - in shocking pictures
Apr 27 (TJN) – At the LEAP conference in London over the weekend, Richard Wilkinson presented data that amounted to the starkest demonstration we have ever seen on the perils of inequality.

Grimy Panama: new report
April 30 (TJN) - "President Obama's ability to deliver on his campaign commitments to close tax loopholes that promote offshoring and re-regulate the financial sector would be dealt a sharp blow if the U.S.-Panama Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is passed."

Britain's budget doublethink
April 27 (TJN) - Much attention has been paid recently to the new 50p tax rate in Britain's budget, raising taxes on high earners. Yet in the same budget, something completely different emerged.

Report from the Offshore Alert conference
April 29 (TJN) - Our colleague Sarah Lewis at TJN-USA has been blogging from the 7th Annual Offshore Alert Financial Due Diligence Conference in Miami. We are delighted to host her as part of our "Guest Blogger"

New EU proposals on tax and transparency
April 28 (TJN) - From the EU: "The European Commission today has adopted a Communication identifying actions that EU Member States should take to promote "good governance" in the tax area (i.e. more transparency, exchange of information and fair tax competition). The

Climate of fear in British tax haven
April 27 (TJN) - Take a look at these remarkable words published in Britain's Hansard (official parliamentary publication) last Thursday, concerning a British Foreign Affairs Committee inquiry into Britain's Overseas Territories, notably looking at the Turks & Caicos islands.

Gordon Brown's indecent love affair
April 27 (TJN) - John Kay says the British government "conducted an indecent love affair with the financial services industry."

TJN and the round-the-world cyclist
Apr 27 (TJN) - Julian Sayarer who will be setting off from Rouen Cathedral in France on 10th June 2009 in an attempt to set a new world record for circumnavigating the world while drawing attention to a number of small organizations which he feels are tackling the core issues.

Gordon Brown's indecent love affair
Apr 27 (TJN) - John Kay has been writing another of his insightful comments in the Financial Times. It is a reminder of something we already know - the government was hopelessly in bed with the bankers - and that it still seems to be true, despite the occasional sign of real fresh thinking.

Climate of fear in British tax haven
Apr 27 (TJN) - Take a look at these remarkable words published in Britain's Hansard (official parliamentary publication) last Thursday, concerning a British Foreign Affairs Committee inquiry into Britain's Overseas Territories, notably looking at the Turks & Caicos islands. Britain has a lot of control and influence over its tax havens, and it could and should act.

Britain's budget - tax sea change
Apr 24 (TJN) - A truly important element has emerged in Britain's budget, and it is not just the 50% tax rate on the seriously rich.

Raymond Baker of Global Financial Integrity in the FT
Apr 24 (TJN) - Our good friend Raymond Baker at Global Financial Integrity in Washington has a wonderful comment piece in the FT today. It starts by mentioning the extraordinary political impact his data has been having in India, which we have already noted too.

Economic crisis - an end in sight?
Apr 24 (TJN) - Many people seem to think that the world economy, after a bad period, may have put the worst behind it. The cover of this week's Economist Magazine vividly illustrates the alternative opinion.

Jon Stewart demolishes Jim Kramer
Apr 23 (TJN) - We missed this when it came out last month. This astonishing demolition by Jon Stewart of CNBC's Jim Kramer is unforgettable. More on the failures of financial journalists here, with additional reasons here.

Foot: A safe pair of hands
Apr 22 (TJN) – Michael Foot’s Progress Report seems to be another of those reviews that toe the party line, in this case on tax havens.

Dismembering a tax haven
Apr 22 (TJN) - Some French protesters dismantling a tax haven, in front of the Stock Exchange in Paris, ahead of the G20 summit. (OK, we're a bit late . . . )

On tax-free charities
Apr 22 (TJN) - A Cayman news organisation, bridling at the attack on offshore financial centres, recently accused charitable organizations of hypocrisy in the area of tax evasion.


EU unveils hedge fund regulation
April 29 (FT) - Angry criticism from all sides greeted EU proposals to regulate “alternative investment funds” Wednesday, with private equity and hedge fund managers claiming they would profoundly damage their industry and some politicians saying the proposed rules are too lax.

Firms Brace For Details Of Obama Tax Plan On Foreign Profits
April 29 (Dow Jones) - U.S. business groups are bracing for the release, slated for next week, of the Obama Administration's proposals to tax overseas profits. Treasury officials now believe repealing deferral would generate significantly more than that, business sources say, perhaps as much as $250 billion.

UK Revenue to pour quarter of its £4bn budget into battle against tax evasion
April 28 (Times) - HM Revenue & Customs is to spend £1 billion on enforcement and compliance this year to cut tax avoidance and evasion by £2.4 billion, Britain's most senior tax collector said last night.

Developing countries to benefit from tax haven crackdown
April 27 (Economy News) OECD head says a crackdown on tax havens and cross-border tax evasion will help developing countries to raise more revenues.

Switzerland offers US possible deal on tax
April 27 (The Times) Switzerland has offered to sign up to a new tax accord with the US if it drops a tax evasion case against UBS, the Swiss bank.

PM pledges to seek return of $100bn stashed abroad
April 27 (Guardian) India's prime minister, Manmohan Singh, has made an election campaign pledge to claw back more than $100bn (£68bn) of cash stashed abroad by the country's wealthy.

Swiss finance minister asks U.S. to drop tax cases with dual-tax pact: report
April 26 (Market Watch) Switzerland asked U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner for criminal cases involving Swiss bank UBS AG

European Lawmakers Urge End To EU Tax Havens By 2014
April 24 (Nasdaq) Lawmakers at the European Parliament called Friday on all European Union governments to give up banking secrecy from 2014 at the latest.

IRS Wins a Battle in the War on Tax Havens
April 24 (CTJ) Tax Day marked a small victory for law-abiding taxpayers who are tired of subsidizing those who evade their taxes. On April 15, the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado granted the government permission to serve a "John Doe" summons on First Data Corporation.

More offshore tax probes in works: NY's Morgenthau
April 24 (Reuters) New York investigators have launched more probes like the $350 million money laundering case against Lloyds and are also working to uncover wrongdoing in offshore tax havens.

Arbitration not litigation will solve transfer pricing wrangles
April 23 (Accountancy Age) The highly complex and divisive issue of transfer pricing the practice of pricing or handing goods or assets from one part of a company to another and the need for the transaction to be priced at arms length.
http://steuergerechtigkeit.blogspot.com/2009/04/tjn-direktor-auf-alpentour-osterreich.html

German cabinet backs bill to fight tax dodging
April 22 (Guardian) German Chancellor Angela Merkel's cabinet has approved a draft law that would give the government additional powers to oversee companies and individuals that do business in tax havens

New measures to curb evasion
April 22 ( FT) Britons who fail to report the full extent of their earnings are to be “named and shamed” by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) as another round of measures to curb tax evasion begins.

Tax Haven Questions Could Trip Up Panama Trade Pact
April 22 (WSJ) Questions about Panama's status as a tax haven have raised a new hurdle for U.S. approval of a free trade deal between the U.S. and the Central American nation.

Austria a top tax oasis, says expert
April 17 (Weiner Zeitung) Head of Tax Justice Network John Christensen included Austria along with the UK, Switzerland, Luxembourg and the US state of Delaware as among the top ten tax havens in the world

Mexico's Dirty Cash
April 20 (ISN) As much as US$25 billion in drug money is laundered in Mexico annually, and some experts say the Mexican financial system is set up to facilitate money laundering rather than impede it, writes Samuel Logan for ISN Security Watch.

Philippines to revise bank secrecy laws
April 20 (FT.com) The Philippines is preparing to revise its bank secrecy laws and strengthen the hand of anti-money laundering investigators following a brief appearance on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s tax haven blacklist.

German cabinet to discuss plan to fight tax dodgers
April 20 (Reuters) The German cabinet will discuss a draft law to fight tax dodging at its meeting on Wednesday, finally addressing the issue after numerous delays, a government spokesman said on Monday.

Guyana Discusses Offshore Financial Centre Proposals
April 20 (Tax-news) - Guyana’s Minister of Finance, Ashni Singh (pictured), underlined his support to facilitate the development of Guyana as an Offshore Financial Centre at a meeting of senior Government officials and representatives of the Guyana Association of Bankers.

Greenland liked by offshore centres for tax deals
April 17 (Reuters) Offshore centres are rushing to sign data exchange tax deals with small Nordic countries such as Greenland to be taken off a "grey" list of tax havens, making a mockery of a G20 bid to clamp down on evasion, campaigners said.

Tax rates
April 17 (TJN) - . . . have been higher before. US Cartoon

Tax havens: India getting serious?
April 17 (TJN) - The Indian Central Board of Direct Taxes is investigating ways of acting against roundtripping and treaty shopping, capitalizing on concerted attempts worldwide to force greater disclosure on tax havens, Tax News reports.

India waking up - Part II
April 17 (TJN) - We have just noted the tax justice agenda starting to create ripples in India. Now we've been sent something else from TaxAnalysts - no link, unfortunately, as it's a subscription-only service. This new article, which quotes TJN, may help explain the moves by India to try and tighten up on tax havens.

The Solution to Ireland's Austerity Plan  - Make Bono Pay Tax
February 26 (CounterPunch) Cork-born British television super-star Graham Norton commented at the time: "People like Bono really annoy me. He goes to hell and back to avoid paying tax. He has a special accountant. He works out Irish tax loopholes.

Guyana Discusses Offshore Financial Centre Proposals, by Phillip Morton, Investors Offshore.com
April 20 (Tax-news) - Guyana’s Minister of Finance, Ashni Singh (pictured), underlined his support to facilitate the development of Guyana as an Offshore Financial Centre at a meeting of senior Government officials and representatives of the Guyana Association of Bankers. 

Guernsey press on Brown: playground bully
April 15 (TJN) – Jersey pretends not to care about the new UK letters. Guernsey’s press responds by calling Brown the “playground bully.”

A reminder: exchange of information can work
April 15 (TJN) - Accountancy magazine quotes a senior chartered accountant as saying that the cost of filtering through information obtained in the proposed global crackdown on tax havens may outweigh the revenue raised: "There’s so much data they don’t know what to do with it. How will HMRC deal with it?" This is nonsense, as Richard Murphy points out.

Over 70% support tax crackdown on wealthy
April 14 (TJN) - The British organisation Compass has published new research: "The results reveal that 77% indicated they agree that the government should do everything it can to close this £15 billion gap lost through personal tax avoidance."

OECD vs EU
April 16 (TJN) - Richard HayHard line European countries are successfully pursuing a competing information exchange philosophy - comprehensive and automatic information exchange - in the recently adopted Savings Tax Directive. If the OECD plan sinks, the EU philosophy will gain ground as the accepted international standard for tax information exchange."

Indian Tax Authority Considers Ways To Reduce Use Of Tax Havens
April 17 (Tax News) - The Indian Central Board of Direct Taxes is investigating ways of acting against roundtripping and treaty shopping, capitalizing on concerted attempts worldwide to force greater disclosure on tax havens. India is examining its own financial relationships with Mauritius and Cyprus in particular, which together account for 46% of total inward direct investment into India in the last decade. In fact Mauritius overtook the US in this period as the largest direct investor in India.

Jersey Funds Industry To Benefit From New Investment Vehicles Structures
April 16 (Tax News) - Jersey’s funds industry is set to benefit from the introduction of new legislation this year which will offer more choice for fund promoters over how they structure their investment vehicles, according to funds lawyers, Joel Hernandez and Sophie Travis at Jersey law firm, Mourant du Feu & Jeune.

Switzerland May Implement Sanctions Against OECD
April 16 (Tax News) - Switzerland may exercise its veto on various key votes within the OECD together with applying other financial sanctions aimed increasingly at Angel Gurria, the OECD Secretary-General in protest at the way he personally is applying pressure to relax bank secrecy laws and share information for tax purposes.

Switzerland Ready to Return $130m Loot
April 16 (This Day) - The Government of Switzerland yesterday said it would be willing to release the $150 million Halliburton bribe money trapped in Swiss bank accounts if Nigeria formally requests for assistance."We have discovered that $150 million of the bribe money is in Zurich.”

 ‘Eaten alive by investment bankers’
April 16 (FT) - “I witnessed trusting and naive provincial building society executives and non-executives, who had no real understanding of securitisation or structured finance or any other aspect of the workings of global capital markets, being eaten alive by cynical, rapacious and short-termist investment bankers

Financial Watchdog Lacks Bite
April 16 (FT) - Lord Turner of Ecchinswell, who became chairman of the FSA last September, has admitted that the City watchdog’s previous “light touch” form of regulation was a mistake. Lord Turner proposed restrictions on excessive bonuses and greater regulation of the “shadow banking” system, such as hedge funds and offshore tax havens.

UBS Client Pleads Guilty in Tax Case
April 14 (NYT) - A wealthy UBS private banking client whose yacht company caters to Russian oligarchs, Kuwaiti royals and other global jet-setters, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to tax fraud, the second American caught in a widening investigation of the Swiss banking giant.  

Radio: William Brittain-Catlin on tax havens

Radio: TJN's John Christensen on BBC World Service Analysis

Credit Card Processor Asked for Offshore Data
April 15 (NYT) - The federal government is widening its investigation of offshore tax evasion to include services sold by the First Data Corporation, a large processor of credit card transactions.

Still No Verdict in Castroneves Tax Case
April 15 (AP) - Jury deliberations will stretch into a fifth day in the complex tax evasion case of Brazilian race car driver Helio Castroneves and two co-defendants.

Obama Vows to Reform "Monstrous" Tax Code
April 15 (Reuters) - President Barack Obama promised Americans his administration would reform the "monstrous" U.S. tax system as millions faced the dreaded annual deadline on Wednesday for filing income tax returns.

The quiet coup
The American financial industry gained political power by amassing a kind of cultural capital—a belief system. Once, perhaps, what was good for General Motors was good for the country. Over the past decade, the attitude took hold that what was good for Wall Street was good for the country. The banking-and-securities industry has become one of the top contributors to political campaigns, but at the peak of its influence, it did not have to buy favors the way, for example, the tobacco companies or military contractors might have to. Instead, it benefited from the fact that Washington insiders already believed that large financial institutions and free-flowing capital markets were crucial to America’s position in the world.

Digger: Clubs no haven for super rich
April 7 (Guardian) - The ultimate controlling party for more than a third of the 20 Premier League clubs are based offshore

Panama holds out against campaign to end era of banking secrecy
April 13 (Times Online) Faced with the growing hostility of politicians, some tax havens quickly crumbled under the pressure.

Round-tripped FDI from tax havens under OECD review
April 13 (Financial Express) Days after G-20 nations agreed to crack down on tax havens where nearly $11 trillion is parked, the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has begun a review of India’s foreign direct investment (FDI) policy to suggest measures that will ease sector-specific ceilings as well as look into issues of round tripping.

Lord Ashcroft’s Belize Bank – a supplier of tax evasion services?
April 13 (Tax Research) The Belize Bank is owned by Lord Ashcroft – one of the biggest funders of the UK’s Conservative Party.

Swiss bank 'to close US customer accounts'
April 13 (Guardian) The Swiss bank Credit Suisse is edging towards closing the accounts of thousands of American customers as tax authorities in Washington step up a campaign against offshore banking secrecy.

It is time to put finance back in its box
April 13 (Financial Times) Nicolas Sarkozy arrived at the Group of 20 summit having said: “The all-powerful market that is always right is finished.” The French president left it proclaiming “a page has been turned” on the Anglo-Saxon financial model.

Welcome to tax-dodge city, USA
April 10 (Guardian) It lacks the palm-fringed sandy beaches of the Cayman Islands. Or the craggy Alpine peaks of Liechtenstein. But should the second smallest US state, Delaware, go on a blacklist of globally notorious tax havens?

New CTJ Fact Sheet: Do the Rich Really Pay Over a Third of Their Income in Federal Income Taxes?
April 10 (Tax Justice Digest) As we approach April 15th, one complaint we often hear is that Americans who work hard and become successful have to pay over a third of their income in federal income taxes. But a recent report from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) shows that this is not remotely true.

The G20’s plan to tackle banking secrecy is a small step in the right direction, says Prem Sikka
April 9 (Tribune Magazine) TAX avoidance has undermined the tax base of many countries

Shackelford Presents Corporate Income Tax Burdens at Home and Abroad Today at Northwestern
April 9 (Tax Prof Blog) Douglas Shackelford (University of North Carolina, Kenan-Flagler Business School) presents Corporate Income Tax Burdens at Home and Abroad (with Kevin Markle (University of North Carolina, Kenan-Flagler Business School) at Northwestern today as part of its Advanced Topics in Taxation Series organized by Tom Brennan and Charlotte Crane.  

Distributional Consequences of Converting the Property Tax to a Land Value Tax
April 8 (Tax Prof Blog) John H Bowman and Michael E Bell have published Distributional Consequences of Converting the Property Tax to a Land Value Tax: Replication and Extension of England and Zhao

Cabinet seeks greater say on tax haven laws
April 8 (Swiss Info) Switzerland is seeking to boost international cooperation to avoid a repeat of sanction threats against its financial centre.

Is the sun setting on Tax Dodgers?
Comment article from our friends at GFI.

Come to Sunny Jersey!
April 8 (Senator Stuart Syvret Blog) Just a brief post as I am doing yet more legal work - and as I've commented elsewhere, the police raid and search of my home on on Monday was - most definitely -unlawful.

Six tax breaks you've probably never heard of.
April 7 (Newsweek) Ah, the wild, wacky tax code—you gotta love it. With more than 20,000 pages of rules and regulations, there's something in it for everyone. And we mean everyone.

From the House That Ruth Built to the House the IRS Built
April 6 (Tax Foundation) The stadium's construction costs have been publicly subsidized in the form of $942 million in tax-exempt bonds issued by New York City.[3] Seeking tax-free status for the bonds to ensure a lower interest rate, New York structured the deal to ensure it didn't run afoul of a federal tax code provision which requires that such bonds not be "private activity bonds."
 

 

Where next on tax after the London Summit?
Apr 8 (TJN) – Two linked events on tax evasion and avoidance in a new era.

Two quotes - pollution and prediction
Apr 8 (TJN) - A reminder of our quotations page. Two quotations for the day.

Tax Analysts Launches Tax.com
Apr 8 (TJN) - TaxAnalysts is a well-respected American tax publication, hosting a variety of opinions, only some of which TJN would agree with. It is a subscription-only service. Now TaxProf informs us that Tax Analysts has launched Tax,com, self-described as "The Tax Daily for the Citizen Taxpayer."

BREAKING NEWS - Britain writes to its tax havens
Apr 9 (TJN) - We have just received copies of letters to the British tax havens from No. 10, Downing Street (for non-British readers, that's the British Prime Minster's office.) TJN is extremely encouraged by the content of these letters, notwithstanding the diplomatic language in which the points are made.

U.S. wealthy - how much tax do they pay?
Apr 13 (TJN) - This is a recurring theme in newspapers and the blogosphere. We note this new fact sheet from Citizens for Tax Justice in the U.S., which has crunched the numbers.

Swiss banker to EU: we knew we were tricking you
Apr 13 (TJN) - Konrad Hummler, the head of the Swiss private bankers' association, has made some fiery and anti-democratic statements in his time, but his recent comment on the EU Savings Tax Directive is particularlyeresting. 

 BREAKING NEWS - Britain writes to its tax havens
April 9 (TJN) - We have just received copies of letters to the British tax havens from No. 10, Downing Street. TJN is extremely encouraged by the content of these letters, notwithstanding the diplomatic language in which the points are made. We single out these points:

Iustitia et Pax
April 6 (TJN) - TJN's director John Christensen has been awarded the Justice and Peace – Iustitia et Pax - medal from the Vatican. Signed by Cardinal Renato Martino, President of the Pontificium Consilium de Iustitia et Pace.

Last week: a curate's egg - G20 and OECD
April 6 (TJN) - We've had a bit more time to reflect on the fast-moving events over the past week or so. In summary: the G20 TJN's agenda made useful strides, despite many disappointments. The OECD list has, by contrast, been on balance a highly negative development.

The OECD's list: we have a better idea - the FTI
April 6 (TJN) - TJN is putting together its own list, in partnership with Berlin-based Transparency International and Christian Aid, ranking jurisdictions in a new Financial Transparency Index(FTI). This will be a more objective, and more accurate, list of tax havens and what they do.

Tax Justice USA: secrecy remains intact
April 6 (TJN) - We note with concern that every element of the global shadow financial system remains intact. Comprising tax havens, secrecy jurisdictions, disguised corporations, anonymous trust accounts, fake foundations, trade mispricing techniques, and money laundering mechanisms, this structure moves cumulatively trillions of dollars across borders."

Tax Analysts Launches Tax.com
April 8 (TJN) - TaxAnalysts is a well-respected American tax publication, hosting a variety of opinions, only some of which TJN would agree with. Tax Analysts has launched Tax,com, self-described as "The Tax Daily for the Citizen Taxpayer".

Two quotes - pollution and prediction
April 8 (TJN) - Tax shelters are to democracy what pollution is to the environment
-    David Cay Johnston, in Perfectly Legal: The Covert Campaign to Rig Our Tax System

Where next on tax after the London Summit?
April 8 (TJN) - Two tax justice events, linked together. At the LSE, April 30.

Ten principles for a Black Swan-proof world
April 8 (TJN) - Ten principles from the FT today by Nassim Nicholas Taleb . Offshore operators, take note.

OECD blacklist - empty?
April 7 (TJN) - While we can give the OECD list approach credit for putting pressure to sign up to OECD standards, the speed and ease with which this has happened also gives an indication how unthreatening the OECD standards must be.

New paper on tax competition
April 7 (TJN) - A new paper is available (in English) in the publication Internationale Politik und Gesellschaft, Deadlocked European Tax Policy. Which Way Out of the Competition for the Lowest Taxes? by Christian Kellermann/Andreas Kammer.

The McIntyres give evidence
April 6 (TJN) - Two leading US tax experts, the brothers Bob McIntyre (Director of Citizens for Tax Justice) and Michael J. McIntyre (a professor of law at Wayne State University in Detroit, who recently wrote for TJN) have recently given evidence to the US House Committee on Ways and Means, looking at ways that the U.S. can reduce international tax evasion by wealthy Americans.

In praise of . . . decent people in indecent times
April 6 (TJN) - In the heat of the moment it is easy to forget how far TJN has come, and in such short time.

Eva Joly: G20, Berlin Wall and new book
April 6 (TJN) - The crime-fighting Norwegian special adviser and former Paris-based investigating magistrate Eva Joly has written a new book. "'The time of banking secrecy is over,' says the final declaration of the G20. A little presumptuous.. . . We cannot refound the global financial system with tax havens in our midst.

Infernal Machines - TJN Coimbra presentation
April 6 (TJN) - We now have a Portuguese translation of a paper that was the basis of a presentation made to the Faculty of Economics at the University of Coimbra, Portugal, on 25th March, 2009. (We noted this in our links here.)

Tax haven crackdown flushes out German tax dodgers
Apr 8 (Guardian) - Zumwinkel kicked off a bit of an avalanche," said Andreas Boehm, a lawyer based in central Berlin. "Afterwards, the number of people coming clean with us ... rose by about 400 to 500 percent. And that level has been maintained."

Tax havens just a tip of the iceberg
On Kibaki-era corruption, the three contracts entirely negotiated and signed by Narc administration officials involved transactions in the British tax havens of Jersey and Guernsey. A probe by the UK’s Serious Fraud

Swiss bank accounts freeze blow to looters
April (Eastern Standard) - The veil on the shadowy figures behind the Anglo Leasing-type contracts could soon be lifted following the decision by Swiss authorities to freeze major bank accounts held by fictitious companies. Kenya.

On information exchange
April 3 (TJN) 'TJN's Murphy on information exchange in the Guardian'

Draft briefing paper: on exchanging information
April 3 (TJN) TJN releases a public draft of a briefing paper on information exchange.

The OECD Global Forum: the list
April 3 (TJN) 'We now have a new tax haven list entitled "A Progress Report on the Jurisdictions Surveyed by the OECD Global Forum in Implementing the Internationally Agreed Tax Standard.'

Tax competition: Picking each others' pockets
April 3 (TJN) 'The Guardian today points out something that we have long said about an ideology that almost nobody in the mainstream media thought to question until now.'

G20 blogging
April 2 (TJN) 'Richard Murphy is in the thick of it today.'

A unilateralist China, tax havens' friend?
April 2 (TJN) 'We have long noted with concern China's willingness to protect tax havens close to it, notably Hong Kong and Macau, and possibly Singapore.'

Geldof gets it?
April 2 (TJN) 'The aid campaigner Bob Geldof apparently just told Richard Murphy, in front of a scrum of cameras, that it's time to close tax havens.'

UK government: tax havens contributed to the crisis
April 2 (TJN) Penny begins to drop?

G20: what we got
April 2 (TJN) 'Senior TJN advisor, director of Tax Research LLP and official G20 blogger Richard Murphy, assesses the pros and cons of the G20 party...

Sarkozy: we want a list or lists of tax havens
April 1 (TJN) “We want clear precision of what a tax haven is, not a place where you pay few taxes, but a place that doesn’t give information on the origin of funds. . . We want one or several lists of financial centers that don’t cooperate with regard to (the OECD criteria.)"

TJN Germany blog is live
March 31 (TJN) 'A rich new source of tax justice information will now be made available in German'

G20: Les gros se ménagent et s’en prennent aux petits
April 8 (e Temps) – The EU is not, or is no longer, defending its small members states against the larger ones. English web translation here.

Sévère passe d’armes entre la Suisse et l’OCDE au sujet du secret bancaire
April 8 (Le Temps) – Switzerland accuses the OECD of having been manipulated by the G20, while the OECD demands that Switzerland ratifies its exchange of information commitments rapidly. Translation.

Tax havens: any real change?
UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown declared "the start of the end" for tax havens as we know them, at the conclusion of last week's G20 summit in London. Is this the beginning of a new era of transparency in banking? TJN's Matti Kohonen debates with Pascal Saint-Amans of the OECD. English version, French version.

Tax haven crackdown not to yield much for India
 April 7, 2009,

Cayman Islands plays down "gray" tax haven listing
April 3 (Reuters) - The government of the Cayman Islands, a major Caribbean financial center, said on Friday it was moving to improve its cooperation to fight tax evasion and played down its inclusion on an OECD "gray list."

Northern Rock has £1bn branch in tax haven
April 5 (Times) - GORDON BROWN has been accused of the “height of hypocrisy” for allowing the state-owned Northern Rock to run an offshore bank in the Channel Islands while he is leading a global campaign against tax havens. Northern Rock Guernsey boasts on its website that it is a “major competitor in the offshore retail savings market”.

Swiss to discuss working with U.S. on tax
April 6 (Reuters) - Switzerland will start negotiations with the United States over its existing double-taxation treaty at the end of April, the Swiss ambassador to the United States told Swiss television late on Friday. "The first discussions already took place in Washington last week.

Officials: Nevada not tax Haven : State leaders rebut statement by premier from Luxembourg
April 6 (Las Vegas Review Journal) - The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations three years ago questioned a deputy secretary of state from Nevada, a Delaware official and others about laws that allow corporations to withhold the identity of their owners. An official told the subcommittee that the Internal Revenue Service was considering "mass audits" of Nevada corporations that do not file tax returns. An IRS official late Friday did not immediately know whether the agency conducted the audits.

The trouble with tax tricks
April 4 (Guardian) - Tax avoidance has created a mirage of large corporate profits, which has turned many a CEO into a media star and even secured knighthoods and peerages for some. Yet the profits have been manufactured by a sleight of hand. Let us get back to the basics.

Estate Tax: Senate Approves a Break for Millionaires that Leader Reid Calls "So Stunning, So Outrageous"
April 3 (CTJ) - Incredibly, 51 Senators voted to approve an amendment offered by Senators Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) and Jon Kyl (R-AZ) to cut the estate tax even more than this. The 2009 estate tax rules exempt the first

Cayman Islands signs tax information agreements with Nordic economies
April 1 (OECD) _ The Cayman Islands has signed bilateral agreements with seven Nordic economies - Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Norway and the Faroe Islands - on exchange of information for tax purposes.

Sinking assets
April 2 (The Economist) – The Economist changes its tune on tax havens. On Britain’s Crown Dependencies -Richard Murphy, who campaigns against tax havens, argues that, whatever else they may claim, these two Channel Islands rely on secrecy to attract business. If that is stripped away they are “dead in the water”, he says.

Live from the G-20 Summit: Another Blogger Breakthrough
April 2 (Huffington Post) I became the first blogger ever in world history to ask a question at a summit conference to a prime minister who had hosted the meeting. Listen to Richard here.


The strange case of Macau, the tax haven that disappeared
April 3 (BBC) – A reporter digs up some of the behind-the-scenes bargaining over the OECD list.

G20 declares door shut on tax havens
April 2 (Guardian) - The most dramatic crackdown on tax havens was unveiled by G20 leaders at their summit today, paving the way for the naming and shaming of countries that fail to comply with internationally agreed standards. (TJN notes progress, but is rather less enthusiastic.)

Petition on monetary reform
March (No 10) - We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to Include international and national monetary reform on the G20 agenda for 2nd April. More details here. http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/G20moneyreform/#detail

http://www.lecourrier.ch/special/promotion/aab5f2ae3772a2e/LeCourrier_2009-03-30.pdf

US and Gibraltar agree to share tax information
April 1 (Guardian) - The clampdown on tax havens around the world gathered pace today when the US government and Gibraltar announced an agreement to exchange information on tax matters.

Liechtenstein tax deal edges closer as France begins fraud inquiry
April 1 (Guardian) - The crackdown on tax havens across the world intensified last night as Britain's most senior taxman flew to Switzerland to negotiate a deal that the Treasury hopes will force British companies to stop using bank accounts in Liechtenstein to avoid paying tax.

Michelin, Total, Adidas face money-laundering probe
March 31 (France24) - Tyre maker Michelin, oil firm Total and sports firm Adidas are suspected of evading French taxes via accounts in the Alpine principality of Liechtenstein, French prosecutors said on Tuesday.

“G192” ONLY CREDIBLE BODY TO BRING ABOUT REFORMS
March 6 (SUNS) - The "G192", namely, the entire membership of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), is the only credible group to bring about the necessary reforms of the 21st century, in the context of the current global economic and financial crises, the President of the Assembly declared Thursday.

France Hints at Leaving G-20 Summit
MARCH 31 (Reuters) - French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said President Nicolas Sarkozy would walk away from this week's Group of 20 meeting in London if no progress was made on global financial regulations.

Brown backs new global assault on tax avoidance
April 5 (Observer) - Gordon Brown this weekend increased the likelihood of a co-ordinated global clampdown on aggressive tax avoidance by opening a new front against secret offshore financial centres.



A pact to get banks to abide by the spirit of tax legislation
July 29 (FT) - The scale and complexity of some projects regularly appals tax authorities. In 2006, the UK Revenue identified a share-dealing scheme that had the potential to wipe out a year’s corporation tax liabilities for the entire banking sector. In 2007 the US identified a significant threat from “foreign tax credit generators” which it viewed as “particularly abusive” because they are designed to generate credits in any amounts the taxpayers desire.

Deal far from done in UBS tax evasion case
Jul 29 (AP) - Attorneys say no settlement is imminent in the U.S. attempt to force Swiss bank UBS AG to disclose names of thousands of suspected tax dodgers.

Illuminating outline
July 29 (FT) - The model of capitalism practised in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland is seen by some as one of the few winners of the current economic and financial crisis.academics from across the region who wrote a book called The Nordic Model. They argue that an openness to globalisation combined with strong social protection and egalitarianism defines the region’s capitalism.

We've forgotten the force which really drives political change
July 29 (Independent) When you are just one person sitting on a warming planet – when you see economies collapsing, wars raging, and reasons for fear on every corner – how should you react? What can you do? The current cluster of crises has stirred mood-responses that you can hear in every bar and coffee shop.

Conservatives leader dashes hopes of tax cuts
July 29 (Accountancy Age) David Cameron has signaled tax cuts are an unlikely priority under a Tory party government, and said if elected, public spending would be cut and taxes may even rise.The Conservatives leader made the remarks on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show yesterday, according to tax-news.com

UBS Client Case Implicates Swiss Bankers, Official
July 28 (NY Times) An American client of UBS pleaded guilty on Tuesday to using Swiss bank accounts to hide more than $8 million (4.8 million pounds) from U.S. tax authorities and said a Swiss government official received $45,000 to help cover up the fraud.

Tax take from City firms falls by half
July 28 (Guardian) The tax contribution from City firms has plunged by half over the past two years, following multibillion-pound losses suffered by banks in the credit crunch.

U.K. Launches Tax Amnesty for Offshore Accounts
July 28 (WSJ) The U.K. government, struggling to keep up revenue streams as public finances deteriorate, Tuesday offered an amnesty to U.K. citizens with unpaid taxes linked to offshore accounts.

Offshore Disclosure Initiative Launch
July 28 (HM Revenue & Customs) (HMRC) has confirmed the details of a new disclosure initiative that will allow people with unpaid taxes linked to offshore accounts or assets to settle their tax liabilities at a favourable penalty rate.

The 2009 IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings
July 28 (IMF) The 2009 IMF - World Bank Annual Meetings will be held on October 6 and 7, 2009 in Istanbul, Turkey.

US Government Seeks Compromise
July 28 (Tax Analysts) The U.S. government is seeking a compromise with UBS and Swiss authorities in which it would accept a fraction of the names currently sought under a John Doe summons, according to Swiss media.

German Economics Institute Recommends Wealth Tax
July 27 (Tax-News) According to a recent study conducted by the ‘Deutsche Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung’, the largest economics research institute in Germany, increasing tax on wealth could generate as much as EUR25bn annually for the State. The report recommends significantly increasing property tax, and reviving the wealth tax in Germany.

Criticism Grows over Banking Data Deal
July 27 (Spiegel) The EU is about to enter talks with the US on giving it access to banking data in its fight against terrorism. German politicians from across the political spectrum are up in arms, and members of the European Parliament say they will try to scupper any deal that violates data privacy.

Tax Transparency Is Set To Increase
July 24 (Forbes) The emphasis on tax transparency at the April G20 meeting in London has not dissipated; rather, it has strengthened. Governments increasingly seem determined to implement serious change. Agendas have broadened from a strict focus on tax haven secrecy to measures in the area of corporate profit-shifting.

On Tea and Taxes
July 23 (Financial Task Force) One evening in November 1773, colonists disguised as Mohawk Indians threw 342 chests of tea into the Boston Harbor. Later dubbed the Boston Tea Party, the protest was in dissent of what colonists believed to be unfair taxation by the interfering British Empire. This sentiment reverberated throughout the colonies, escalating until the colonists were freed from their oppressors many years later. Little did they know, but there are easier ways to use tea to avoid taxes.

Marijuana Gets a Stamp of Approval
July 22 (NY Times) Perhaps only in the sometimes hazy world of medical marijuana could higher taxes be considered good news. But sure enough, supporters of medical marijuana were pleasantly pleased Wednesday after Oakland voters overwhelmingly approved a huge tax increase — 15 times the former rate — on sales at the city’s handful of permitted medical marijuana dispensaries.

Tory banking regulation tastes stale
July 22 (Guardian) After the announcement of the Conservative party's plans for financial reforms (pdf), the fat cats must be licking their plates of cream. With support from taxpayers, banks have been given protection from bankruptcy – and there is no shortage of bonuses for those at the top either.

ATO lifts lid on tax havens in US
July 22 (The Australian) DETAILS of tax scams by Australian organisations involving US entities have been revealed in a submission sent to US authorities.

Fraud reporting
July 21 (Economist) The rise in financial crime in America. OVER 730,000 counts of suspected financial wrongoing were recorded in America last year, according to recent data from the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. Institutions such as banks, insurers and casinos are required by law to report suspicious activities to federal authorities under 20 categories.

Stanford case spreads its tentacles
July 21 (FT) The indictment of Sir Allen Stanford on charges ranging from wire fraud to bribery has provided an illuminating glimpse into how cross-border white-collar crimes are investigated and prosecuted, experts say.

Graft Inquiry in Namibia Finds Clues in China
July 21 (NY Times) To the likely consternation of diplomats in both Beijing and faraway Windhoek, a newly minted initiative by Namibia’s government to root out official corruption has snared an early catch: three people who, Namibian prosecutors charge, helped win a lucrative contract for a Chinese company recently headed by the son of Hu Jintao, China’s president.

Tax Returns Filed by the Rich on the Rise
July 21 (Hindu Business Online) More of the rich are now beginning to file income-tax returns. There has been a sharp rise in the number of assessees who filed return of income between Rs 1 crore and Rs 5 crore a year during the last three financial years.

Brooks: Tax Sparing
July 21 (TaxProf Blog) Kim Brooks (McGill) has posted Tax Sparing: A Needed Incentive for Foreign Investment in Low Income Countries or an Unnecessary Revenue Sacrifice, 34 Queen's L.J. ___ (2009), on SSRN. Here is the abtstract:

Pay of Top Earners Erodes Social Security
July 21 (WSJ) The nation's wealth gap is widening amid an uproar about lofty pay packages in the financial world.

IRS Gets Tougher on Offshore Tax Evaders
July 20 (WSJ) The Internal Revenue Service has stepped up scrutiny of offshore accounts and foreign income, an enforcement campaign that could sweep up tens of thousands of taxpayers.The push to recover some of the billions of dollars lost each year to offshore tax evasion goes beyond the government's high-profile effort to force Swiss bank UBS AG to release the names of 52,000 American account holders in order to nab tax evaders.

Robin Hood Tax Policy
July 17 (Forbes) - This week, House Democrats proposed that how to find most of the funding for their health reform plan. Robert Reich calls this "the most blatant form of Robin Hood economics ever proposed." An outspoken liberal, Reich meant this as praise. Many conservatives are predicting economic disaster. The rich, they say, will go on strike But they said the same thing when Bill Clinton raised the top rate to 39.6% from 31% in 1993, just before the economy took off. Rich people aren't going to suddenly stop working in protest or move to some lower-taxed nation, and the economy isn't going to collapse if they are forced to pay a bit more in taxes.

In heaven or hell
Jul 16 (Economist) - Why do so many Italians want Silvio Berlusconi as their leader? Media control is one reason. Disunity among his opponents is another. But there is a further explanation, many voters see him as soft on tax evasion and so vote for him out of self-interest. Some lie to pollsters because they feel ashamed.

Berlusconi accused over tax amnesty
Jul 15 (FT) - Italy’s centre-right government on Wednesday proposed a tax amnesty aimed at repatriating billions of euros – the bulk believed to be held in Swiss bank accounts – on the most favourable terms yet offered to tax evaders by a European Union member state.

Rebuilding the bias to equity
Jul 15 (Tax Research UK) – Richard Murphy has long argued that there is a powerful case for looking at stamp duty on shares, which raises the costs of capital and reduces investment. But he believes the time has come to look again at the generosity of interest deductibility in our corporate tax system.

Insight: A flawed model is preserved
Jul 14 (FT) - The future shape of banking is becoming clear after the announcement this week of the European Union’s proposed revisions to its rules on bank capital and the Basel Committee’s revisions to the capital framework. Far from delivering a more utility-like banking system, the regulatory response to the financial crisis is designed broadly to preserve the big bank business model, but with tougher capital penalties on banks’ own-account punting and less pro-cyclicality.

State Tax Revenues at Record Low, Rockefeller Institute Finds
Jul 17 (NYT) - The anemic economy decimated state tax collections during the first three months of the year, according to a report released Friday by the Rockefeller Institute of Government. The drop in revenues was the steepest in the 46 years that quarterly data has been available.

Swiss lift 12-year freeze on Mobutu's millions
freeze on nearly seven million dollars in assets the late Zairean dictator Mobutu Sese Seko held in Switzerland, allowing their return to his family. “The foreign ministry deplores this outcome.”

Global Financial Integrity Recommends Strategy for Settlement in Historic UBS Case
July 14 (GFI) - GFI's laid out a plan for a meaningful settlement. A simple monetary fine, even in the range of $2 billion, is inadequate, would mean that the U.S. justice system is for sale, and will do little to weaken banking secrecy in Switzerland. Alternatively, a serious settlement in the case would include the following stipulations:

Embassy Row
July 17 (Washington Times) - Bahamas' Ambassador Cornelius A. Smithis worried that the "twin pillars" of his country's economy - tourism and offshore banking - are cracking under the global economic crisis and U.S. efforts to close foreign tax shelters.

WEALTH ADVISER: Offshore Centers Find New Source Of Cash
Jul 15 (WSJ) - Wealth managers in Switzerland say there has been an extraordinary surge of money from the Middle East and Latin America in the past six months. Members of the Channel Islands financial community make regular trips to Asia and the Middle East to sell their offshore services. They say these efforts are paying off with accounts coming in from these regions.

UBS Should Settle IRS Case, Pay Tax On Accounts - Think-Tank
Jul 15 (WSJ) – UBS AG (UBS) should pay U.S. taxes on 52,000 secret accounts held by American citizens in Switzerland as part of a settlement to a high-profile legal case between the bank and U.S. tax authorities, according to Washington-based Global Financial Integrity.

Offshore Tax Evaders Deserve No Sympathy
Jul 16 (WSJ) – James Stewart has no sympathy for the plight of UBS, nor for the Americans with a Swiss bank account, because “the wealthy need to be reminded that all Americans stand equal before the law.æ

France ponders tougher stance against Monaco
Jul 13 (Wealth Bulletin) - France is fast becoming one of the leading exponents of a crackdown on offshore centres and banking secrecy, as the country’s officials attempt to track down tax dodgers to help pay for a worryingly high government deficit. But it might need to take a tougher line on Monaco if it is to be taken seriously.

Q&A:  Tax Havens, Bank Secrecy, and Tricks
Jul 14 (IPS) - At a recent conference in Miami organised by Offshore Alert, a specialised media organisation focused on financial crime, IPS correspondent Lucy Komisar sat down with veteran investigator Bob Roach to discuss the hurdles facing regulators trying to crack down on tax havens, which cost the U.S. alone an estimated 100 billion dollars annually.

McDonald's becomes latest firm to follow the lure of low-tax Switzerland
Jul 14 (Deutsche Welle) - Geneva is to become the European center of the Golden Arches - a move the company says is to coordinate senior management. But an expert critic says tax loopholes are the real reason for what's becoming a Swiss exodus.

Swiss court approves African kleptocracy: Mobutu’s loot to go to his family
Jul 15 (Afrik.com) - Chairman of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Working Group on Bribery in International Business Transactions, Mark Pieth raised an appeal against a Swiss bank to release $6million in assets belonging to former DR Congo’s dictator, Mobutu Sese Sisoko, to DR Congo, but the court rather ruled the looted money to the late dictator’s family.

Comment UBS à Miami rabattait en Suisse les riches latinos
Jul 16 (Le Temps) - Depuis un an, UBS a livré au fisc américain quantité de données sur plus de 700 clients. Les riches latinos qui ouvraient des comptes suisses depuis Miami sont passés entre les gouttes jusqu’ici.

Former Thai PM Fights Bid to Seize $2.2 Billion Assets
Jul 16 (Reuters/NYT) - Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra Thursday challenged a move to seize 76 billion baht (1.3 billion pounds) of his family's assets, which the government claims were gained through abuse of power.

OECD Pressure and Bank Secrecy: The View From Uruguay
July 20 (Tax Analysts) - Alberto Varela and Gianni Gutierrez discuss how, despite OECD pressure, bank secrecy laws cannot be lifted in Uruguay. Uruguay cannot lift bank or tax secrecy laws to give information to foreign tax authorities because to do so would be unconstitutional. Subscription-only.

Swiss minister to meet Clinton ahead of UBS deadline
July 19 (Reuters) - The Swiss foreign minister is due to meet U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on July 31, just days before a deadline to reach a settlement in a damaging U.S. tax case against UBS

Somalia appoints accountancy firm
Jul 8 (BBC) - Somalia's fragile government has hired the world's biggest accountancy firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers, to help ensure international aid is spent correctly. The embattled administration has been asked by donors to demonstrate that funds will be spent properly, and not embezzled by corrupt officials.

Steinbrueck Lauds Liechtenstein, Heals Wounds in Tax Dispute
July 14 (Bloomberg) -- German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck lauded Liechtenstein’s cooperation on tax issues as an “important contribution,” a turnaround in relations between two governments that were locked in a dispute on tax evasion.

Germany's Müntefering Criticises CDU's 'Insane' Tax Plans
Jul 17 (Tax-News.com) - Speaking at a party conference in Weiden, Chairman of Germany’s Social Democratic Party (SPD) Franz Müntefering referred to tax cut promises unveiled recently by the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party, as utter “madness”.According to the SPD leader, such reckless and irresponsible promises to introduce tax reductions amounting to around EUR30bn are insane, as they simply can not be funded.

US House Rep Warns Of Possible Corruption In Govt Bailouts
Jul 15 (WSJ) - The chairman of the House of Representative's investigative panel said Wednesday he was increasingly concerned about potential corruption that occurred during the U.S. government's intervention in the financial system last year. 

U.S. trial delay seen bringing UBS tax deal nearer
Jul 13 (Reuters) - A federal court judge in Miami approved a delay in a high-profile trial on Monday in which U.S. tax authorities hoped to force UBS AG to reveal the identities of thousands of Americans suspected of using the Swiss bank to evade taxes.

Swiss tax rules lure McDonald’s from UK
July 12 (FT) Mcdonalds is to leave London for Geneva, joining the growing ranks of US companies moving their European headquarters to take advantage of preferential intellectual property tax laws.

Corruption rules as illegal imports flood Kenyan market
July 11 (The Nation) - The Kenyan taxman is losing an estimated Sh100 million every week in a tax evasion scheme involving unscrupulous importers working with corrupt customs and airport officials, according to the findings of a Sunday Nation investigation.

Baucus Gives Cautious Welcome To US Treasury's New 'Tax Gap' Plan
July 13 (Tax-News) Senate Finance Committee Chairman has given a qualified welcome to the Treasury Department’s latest plan to reduce the estimated USD345bn in legally-owed taxes that go unpaid each year, otherwise known as the ‘tax gap.’

Luxembourg Deemed Fully Compliant By OECD
July 13 (Tax-News) Luxembourg has revised its double tax convention with Norway to include provisions for the exchange of information in tax matters. The agreement brings the number of OECD model agreements it has concluded to twelve, ranking Luxembourg as a jurisdiction that has 'substantially implemented' the internationally agreed standard in this area.

Rich Britons help to drive up house prices in tax havens
July 12 (Guardian) While house prices across Europe have plunged in recent months, a stream of wealthy tax exiles is continuing to push up property prices in offshore tax enclaves across the continent.

UBS tax trial is delayed as talks continue
July 12 (Guardian) A keenly awaited court showdown between the US government and the Swiss bank UBS will be delayed until August. The trial, in which the US is seeking to force UBS to hand over details of thousands of wealthy Americans suspected of evading US taxes, was due to start today, but both sides submitted a request for a delay, to allow them "to continue their discussions seeking a resolution of this matter".

Swiss, UK Governments Reach Dual Taxation Agreement
July 9 (WSJ) The Swiss and U.K. governments have reached a dual taxation agreement which will permit an exchange of information on tax matters in individual cases where a specific and justified request has been made, the Swiss Federal Department of Finance said Thursday.

IMF: Lower corporation taxes and tax holidays may not boost growth
July 9 (TJN) The IMF has issued a new working paper entitled Empirical Evidence on the Effects of Tax Incentives which reaches some conclusions that are contrary to what the IMF so often teaches. And it seems to be an important one, for as the study says...

Tax Justice in History: The Peasant's Revolt
July 12 (TJN) In the summer of 1381 England was riven by grassroots revolt. London was invaded and the Tower of London, previously thought impregnable, was over-run by rioters. Simon Sudbury, Archbishop of Canterbury and foremost prelate in the land, was beheaded outside the Tower. One in an occasional series.

Treaty Conveys Little Power to Break Swiss Bank Secrecy
Jul 8 (Washington Post) - A new treaty touted as helping U.S. law enforcement crack Swiss bank secrecy may do little to help authorities achieve a prime objective: exposing tax evaders.

Escaping the shakedown
Jul 2nd (The Economist) - Governments are not raising corporate taxes. Despite budget deficits and a widespread belief that corporate greed precipitated the credit crunch, governments do not seem inclined to tax businesses more. This is all the more remarkable given that corporate-tax rates in many countries are far lower than they were in the 1990s

The government prevented me from stopping tax avoidance
Jul 8 (Tax Research UK) - Michael Meacher complains he could not promote the general anti- avoidance principle I wrote for him and the Lib Dems:

Bern to block UBS record transfer to US
Jul 8 (FT) - The Swiss government on Wednesday waded into the legal battle between UBS and the US authorities by saying it would forbid the bank from handing over confidential client information, if a crucial court case next week required it.

Luxembourg says removed from tax haven "grey list"
Jul 8 (Reuters) - Luxembourg has been removed from a "grey list" of countries seen by the OECD as lacking financial transparency, Budget Minister Luc Frieden said on Wednesday.

Tax havens to come under govt scanner
Jul 8 (Economic Times) - The government is set to track the unaccounted wealth stashed away by Indians in tax havens, with the Budget proposing double-taxation avoidance treaties, or a Tax Information Exchange Agreement, with what it describes as ‘non-sovereign’ jurisdictions.

Germany gives info on black money of Indians
Jul 7 (Central Chronicle) - German authorities have given India the information available with them regarding the Indian nationals having accounts in LGT Bank of Liechtenstein under the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) between the two countries, the Rajya Sabha was informed today.

Empirical Evidence on the Effects of Tax Incentives
Jul 1 (IMF) - This paper by Alexander Klemm and Stefan Van Parys considers two empirical questions about tax incentives: (1) are incentives used as tools of tax competition and (2) how effective are incentives in attracting investment?

A general anti-avoidance principle is in sight
Jul 8 (Tax Research UK) - The General Anti-Avoidance Principle I drafted was not officially on the agenda during the Finance Bill debate yesterday, but Michael Meacher and John Pugh in combination made very sure it was debated none the less – and for a considerable period of time.

How Obama could introduce a petrol tax
Jul 6 (FT) - If a petrol tax is as good an idea as the consensus takes it to be, why is it so politically dangerous that US politicians will not touch it? Four political forces combine to kill off significant petrol taxes.

The tax crackdown that could net you £700 a year
Jul 4 (Independent) - Governments are being urged to shake up the way tax havens operate before the next G20 meeting later this summer, writes Neasa MacErlean.

New York May Check Insurance Firms' Compliance with Global Money Rules
Jul 6 (Insurance Journal) - New York State Insurance Department licensees should protect their businesses by ensuring that they comply with federal requirements designed to prevent such practices as money laundering and other illegal international transactions, Insurance Superintendent Eric Dinallo has warned.

Swiss banks drop U.S. clients due to UBS case: report
Jul 4 (Reuters) - Swiss banks including ZKB and Mirabaud are pulling out of business with individuals who pay U.S. taxes, newspaper Neue Zuercher Zeitung (NZZ) reported on Saturday.

U.S. says has far less than 52,000 UBS account names
Jul 6 (Reuters) - U.S. tax authorities have discovered far fewer than the 52,000 accounts with Swiss bank UBS AG (UBSN.VX) suspected of being used by Americans to avoid taxes, the U.S. government said in a court filing on Monday.

Banks consider 'getting rid of all American clients'
Jul 7 (World Radio Switzerland) - The ongoing crackdown by U.S. authorities on tax evasion is striking fear and uncertainty into Americans living abroad—not least the estimated 30,000 U.S. citizens who live in Switzerland.

Sources of Polarization of Income and Wealth: Offshore Financial Centers
May 12 (Review of Radical Political Economics) - Economic data are likely distorted by transfer pricing of activities related to tax havens, including exports and imports, value added, productivity, profit, current account balances, and the nature and size of investment flows across borders. This and other research questions should be near the top of the agenda for radical political economists.

In the line of ire
Jun 25 (FT) - When historians review the great bull market behind the credit crunch that began in 2007, one artefact that may give them pause is the rich list. The tone they have taken in recent years marks a break with the far lengthier tradition of wealth being looked on with envy by the masses.

Gestion de fortune: UBS perd la première place
July 7 (Le Temps) - UBS loses the top spot in wealth management. In French.

Ex-Partner at Tax Firm Is Guilty in Shelter Case
BDO Seligman official was selling tax shelters.

Forthcoming IFC In Jamaica To Be Fully Transparent
July 8 (Tax News) - Jamaican Minister of Finance, Audley Shaw (pictured), in an address to Parliament promised that Jamaica would operate transparently in order to not earn a reputation as a ‘tax haven’, when the proposed International Financial Centre (IFC) is established in downtown Kingston.

U.S. House May Include Surtax on Wealthy in Health-Care Package
July 7 (Bloomberg) -- House Ways and Means Committee members are likely to propose a surtax on high-income Americans to help pay for an overhaul of the health-care system, according to people familiar with the plan.

Rights Group: Equatorial Guinea misused oil money
July 9 (AP) - Human Rights Watch said Thursday that government officials in tiny Equatorial Guinea have used tens of millions of dollars in oil profits to buy lavish homes, cars and vacations while leaving citizens in miserable poverty.

Austrian Parliament Falls Short Of Loosening Bank Secrecy Laws
July 9 (AFP)--Austrian members of parliament failed Wednesday to approve a resolution relaxing the country's strict banking secrecy laws, which came under fire this year.

UBS deal important to U.S. double tax deal-Leuthard
July 8 (Reuters) - The Swiss Parliament may not approve a double taxation treaty between Switzerland and the United States if the legal action against Swiss bank UBS (UBSN.VX) is not resolved, Swiss minister for economic affairs Leuthard said on Wednesday.

Sarkozy, Brown Push Against Tax Havens
July 6 (AP) -- The leaders of France and Britain pushed Monday for ambitious targets for tackling climate change and cracking down on uncooperative tax havens, ahead of upcoming meetings with other heads of state this week and in September.

DfID on tax: what they said
July 6th (Tax Research) - The UK’s Department for International Development published its new White Paper on development today. On tax it said:

Video of TJN Friends in Action
(Daily Motion) Video of TJN friends such as Matti Kohonen

Commission Calls For Harmonized EU VAT Grouping Rules
July 6 (Tax-News) The European Commission has adopted proposals which attempt to harmonize Community rules relating to value-added tax (VAT) grouping schemes and crack down further on tax evasion.

UK wants banks to sign tax avoidance code-source
July 6 (LSE) Britain will put pressure on banks on Monday to  promise to stop avoiding tax or face greater oversight of their affairs, a source familiar with a new consultation process told Reuters on Friday.

Last Will of Michael Joseph Jackson
July 1 (The Smoking Gun) A will signed in 2002 by Michael Jackson stipulates that his assets be placed in a family trust and that his mother be appointed the guardian of his three offspring.

Imelda Marcos Sure She'll Beat Corruption Charges
July 3 (NY Times) She glided down a red carpet with a bouquet of roses, trailed by tuxedo-wearing violin and flute players who rendered her favorite love song. She blew out the candles on her 80th birthday cake amid glittering confetti and fireworks.

Coffers Empty, California Pays With I.O.U.’s
July 2 (NY Times) LOS ANGELES — An ever-widening budget gap joined with intractable political paralysis to deliver California its biggest fiscal blow in decades on Thursday, when the state’s controller began printing i.o.u.’s in lieu of cash to pay taxpayers, vendors and local governments.

Will Tax Breaks Boost Jobs?
July 1 (Business Week) With the economy slumping and unemployment approaching 10%, states are kicking corporate tax incentives into overdrive. In the past year they've doled out a record $50 billion to spur job growth.

McIntyre on combined reporting
July 6 (TJN) - As we recently noted, TJN is just launching a project on Transfer Pricing - one of the great (largely unprobed) issues of our age - and we are inviting other organisations to join us in our research. We have promised to issue a series of materials on this subject, and in this spirit this blog contains an impressive piece of work on the subject by law professor Michael J. McIntyre.

Absence of data implies a need for more transparency
July 7 (FT) - In the FT today: "From Mr John Christensen and others.
Sir, As organisations working on the issue of illicit capital flows out of developing countries, and including authors of many of the papers reviewed by the Oxford University Centre for Business Taxation (“Treasury in drive to extend global tax clamp”, June 22), we write to express our disquiet about the centre’s conclusions.

TJN event in London Westminster, July 14th
July 7 (TJN) - TJN's John Christensen will be speaking at an event in London entitled “Our Taxes, our Lives” on the evening of July 14th, hosted by British Member of Parliament John McDonnell.

We are not a tax haven - they are
Jul 6 (TJN) - A curious characteristic of tax havens (or secrecy jurisdictions as we usually like to call them) - they do like to deny being tax havens. How about the territories repeatedly fingered as secrecy jurisdictions come up with their own definition of what a secrecy jurisdiction is – and why they are not one.

The non-perils of information exchange
Jul 6 (TJN) – A selection of issues that came up in response to the “leakage” argument for non-exchange of information.

Tracking banks' secrets
Jul 2 (TJN) - A group of organisations has put together a new website that examines links between banks and blacklisted companies supporting dictators, causing irreversible environmental damage or producing indiscriminate weaponry, such as cluster munitions, The thirteen researched banks together invest 39.6 billion euros in 14 such companies and projects.

Journalist under threat
Jul 2 (TJN) - TJN and some of our partners in France have just issued a statement expressing great concern about a Cameroonian journalist, Jean Bosco Talla, who is being harrassed and intimidated as a result of his work in publicising a huge and detailed report outlining the scale of dictators' and élites' assets in a wide number of countries around the world, including in Cameroon.

Short cuts in Jersey
Jul 2 (TJN) - From the latest edition of the London Review of Books, an article that begins:" There was an awfully genteel protest organised by the Tax Justice Network in Jersey earlier this year." The article isn't that long, and it's very nicely written - go and read it!

In Search of Pro-Poor Taxation in Bangladesh
Jul 2 (TJN) - Tax Justice Network in partnership with Action Aid Bangladesh organised a workshop in Dhaka on the 23rd June titled “Understanding Tax Dynamics: Issues and Perspectives”. Going to Bangladesh gave TJN the opportunity to familiarise with tax issues in Bangladesh, and approach the issue of tax justice form the perspective of one of the most unequal countries on earth.

Tour de France (et des paradis fiscaux)
Jul 2 (TJN) - Coming shortly after last April's G-20 Summit, which called for an end to secrecy jurisdictions, the 2009 Tour de France gets under way in Monaco tomorrow, passing via Andorra before heading on to Switzerland. Given this opportunity just a few days before the G-8 meeting in Italy, a group of organisations will be carrying out a series of symbolic actions to remind the public that the problem of secrecy jurisdictions remains largely unresolved.

Capitalism's dirty secret
Jul 2 (TJN) - Just why is there so much debt in the Anglo-Saxon world? writes Ben Funnell, an asset manager. "The answer is capitalism’s dirty little secret: excessive lending was the only way to maintain the living standards of the vast bulk of the population at a time when wealth was being concentrated in the hands of an elite."

The bomb-thrower's crystal ball
Jul 2 (TJN) - The bomb-throwing Dutch FT columnist Willem Buiter accurately predicted the 2008 financial crisis in 2000. With that in mind, be reminded of another of his headlines: Blockade the Tax Havens.
Florida Man, a UBS Client, Pleads Guilty to Tax Fraud
June 25 (NY Times) A wealthy American client of UBS pleaded guilty on Thursday to tax fraud, the latest victory for the federal government in its crackdown on UBS and its offshore private banking accounts.

African Tax Administration Forum Ends in Accra
June 21 (Ghana Business News) Mr. Oupa Magashula, Acting Commissioner of the South African Revenue Service, on Friday asked African Tax administrators to forge a united front, in order to strengthen tax mobilisation to ensure minimal loss of revenue to the continent.

India tries to tame tax havens
July 1 (UPI) - The Indian government is taking a hard look at the country’s plethora of Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements. But laying a hand on the enormous amount of the country’s illegal or black money stashed abroad may be easier said than done.

U.S. demands UBS "comply in full" in tax evasion case
June 30 (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department said on Tuesday it was pressing ahead with its five-month-old lawsuit against UBS AG to force the Swiss bank to identify thousands of U.S. clients with secret UBS accounts.

Kyrgyzstan tackles black economy
July (Atimes) - A bill allowing people to declare assets and unpaid tax without fear of retribution has sailed through the Kyrgyz parliament, after an earlier version had to be amended because of objections that it would help money-launderers.

UPDATE 1-C.Suisse to pass client names to French regulator
July 1, (Reuters) - Swiss bank Credit Suisse (CSGN.VX) said on Wednesday it will pass the names of clients holding French securities to the French markets authority.

Money laundering risk to football
July 1 (BBC) - Football is being used as a vehicle for money laundering, according to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). Its report warns football is at risk from criminals buying clubs, transferring players, and betting on the sport. It also provides a rare insight into tax evasion in British football.

Debt is capitalism’s dirty little secret
June 30 (FT) - Just why is there so much debt in the Anglo-Saxon world? The answer is capitalism’s dirty little secret: excessive lending was the only way to maintain the living standards of the vast bulk of the population at a time when wealth was being concentrated in the hands of an elite. This illustrates the problem with lightly regulated free markets

Singapore Plans to Amend Laws Related to Bank Secrecy
June 30 (WSJ) The Singapore government is proposing changes to its tax laws to meet demands from the U.S. and Europe to clamp down on bank secrecy.

Qatar To Overhaul CIT Structure
June 30 (LowTax.Net) In a landmark move, Qatar has proposed to slash its corporate income tax rate to 10% for foreign companies investing from outside the Gulf.

Private Banker Moved Funds Undetected
June 30 (NY Times) He grew up in elite circles in Buenos Aires, acquiring the polish and privileged connections that paved the way for him to become a star private banker in New York to wealthy clients at UBS and JPMorgan Chase.

Regulator calls on UBS to pay
June 29 (FT) UBS, the custodian bank to Luxalpha, one of the main European funds invested in Bernard Madoff, should compensate investors for their losses, the French regulator said on Monday.

UK fraud agency launches Medici inquiry
June 29 (FT) UK investigators are probing the head of an Austrian bank that funnelled billions of dollars into Bernard Madoff’s “Ponzi” investment scheme, the Financial Times has learnt.

Bernard Madoff Gets 150 Years in Jail for Epic Fraud
June 29 (Bloomberg) Bernie Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in federal prison for masterminding the largest Ponzi scheme in history, a penalty six times longer than those meted out to the chief executives of WorldCom Inc. and Enron Corp.

John McDougal: Busting Offshore Accounts for the IRS
June 29 (Washington Post) Tax cheats have brazenly hidden billions of dollars in offshore bank accounts for decades, but this ruse has become harder to pull off thanks to John McDougal, a special trial attorney at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

UBS Said to Seek U.S. Tax Deal in Weeks
June 29 (NY Times) With a payment of 3 billion to 5 billion Swiss francs, UBS hopes in the next two weeks to settle a lawsuit over the tens of thousands of American clients suspected of tax evasion, the Swiss newspaper Sonntag reported. Analysts on Monday, however, questioned the figure.

Merz sees Swiss off OECD tax list by autumn -paper
June 29 (Reuters) Switzerland should have renegotiated more than enough double taxation treaties by the autumn to be removed from an OECD 'grey list', Swiss Finance Minister Hans-Rudolf Merz was quoted as saying on Monday.

U.S. Companies Seek New Tax Havens
June 29 (Business Week) Ah, Bermuda. Pink sand beaches. Charming pastel cottages and kelly-green golf courses. Tiny storefront "headquarters" of major global corporations.

U.S. Justice is Not for Sale, DOJ Must Pursue Case against Swiss Bank UBS, Says GFI
June 29 (GFI) Global Financial Integrity (GFI) urges the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to remain steadfast in its pursuit of information about the suspected 52,000 secret bank accounts held by U.S. citizens with Swiss bank UBS.

Swiss declare war over tax evasion
June 28 (FT) An economic war has broken out between Switzerland and the rest of the world after the crackdown on Swiss banking secrecy, according to one of Geneva’s leading private bankers.

Academics have more to declare than their genius
June 23 (FT) Crises always prompt an anguished and angry search for causes and culprits, and the current financial crisis is no exception. Fingers have been pointed at supine regulators, greedy bankers and investors, naive consumers and feckless politicians.

Critics Say Tax Haven Crackdown Falls Short
June 23 (Forbes) Last month the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in Paris removed the last holdouts Andorra, Lichtenstein and Monaco from its blacklist of "uncooperative" tax havens.

OECD meeting commits to ensuring information exchange compliance
June 23 (International Tax Review) The president of Switzerland has said that complying with international standards on the exchange of tax information should not be only about the number of agreements a country can negotiate.

Jet lag snares a tax haven tout
June 19 (Watoday) When Philip Egglishaw last visited Sydney and Melbourne, he left behind a who's who and how-to guide to tax avoidance.

Helsinki calls for financial transparency
July 1 (TJN) The city of Helsinki, known for its global leadership in matters of peace and security in convening the Organisation for Security and Co-Operation in Europe (OSCE) in 1975 that by signing the Helsinki Declaration helped to put an end to the Cold War (having the Eastern Block sign up to human rights), has now looked into yet another peace and security threat in the form of secrecy jurisdictions. Times certainly are 'a changin'!

The fairness of inheritance tax
July 1 (TJN) Winston Churchill warmed to its qualities as "a certain corrective against the development of a race of idle rich."

TJN's new transfer pricing project
June 30 (TJN) The Tax Justice Network is launching a new project on transfer pricing and mispricing.

CDC: going offshore to help the poor?
June 30 (TJN) In 1948, under the premiership of Clement Atlee, the British Government created CDC (the Colonial Development Corporation). Being pretty much what it said on the tin, CDC's initial mandate was to strengthen the economies of the former UK colonies by providing finance for businesses.

Country by Country reporting: new Task Force report
July 1 (TJN) For those who missed it last week (apologies for the delay) the Task Force on Financial Integrity and Economic Development has published a new report on country-by-country reporting.

Is the United States at war with Switzerland?
June 30 (TJN) Three recent articles highlight the hostilities that have broken out between Switzerland and other countries, not least the United States. For the record, we're firmly on the Americans' side on this one.

Shadowing the G-8
June 29 (TJN) How the mighty are fallen. G-7 was once the colossus that ruled the world. When Russians bigged-up on oil and gas wealth they were invited to the table.

Swiss bank secrecy - and Guantanamo
June 29 (TJN) Martin Sullivan at Tax Analysts has pointed out critical factors impacting the political will to pursue, or to drop, the US Department of Justice case against UBS.

Luxembourg refered to European Court of Justice
June 29 (TJN) The European Commission has decided to refer Luxembourg to the European Court of Justice over its incorrect application of certain provisions of the Savings Tax Directive as regards interest payments made to beneficial owners who benefit from so-called "non-domiciled resident" status in their country of residence.

Parliamentarians should declare offshore interests
June 29 (TJN) Here's an interesting new idea from Dan Hind, who makes the rather subversive suggestion that elected representatives should declare any interests in offshore holdings.

Letter from the UN in New York
June 27 (TJN) Christian Aid's Dr David McNair attended last week's United Nations summit meeting on responding to the global crisis. Here is his letter from New York 

Tax haven seeks taxpayer compliance
April 30 (TJN) - Bahamas is running short of money. There is outrage that non-compliance by local taxpayers is at the root of the problem. They might take a moment to consider the revenue costs that offshore centres like the Bahamas force on other developing countries.

Inequality - in shocking pictures
Apr 27 (TJN) – At the LEAP conference in London over the weekend, Richard Wilkinson presented data that amounted to the starkest demonstration we have ever seen on the perils of inequality.

Grimy Panama: new report
April 30 (TJN) - "President Obama's ability to deliver on his campaign commitments to close tax loopholes that promote offshoring and re-regulate the financial sector would be dealt a sharp blow if the U.S.-Panama Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is passed."

Britain's budget doublethink
April 27 (TJN) - Much attention has been paid recently to the new 50p tax rate in Britain's budget, raising taxes on high earners. Yet in the same budget, something completely different emerged.

Report from the Offshore Alert conference
April 29 (TJN) - Our colleague Sarah Lewis at TJN-USA has been blogging from the 7th Annual Offshore Alert Financial Due Diligence Conference in Miami. We are delighted to host her as part of our "Guest Blogger"

New EU proposals on tax and transparency
April 28 (TJN) - From the EU: "The European Commission today has adopted a Communication identifying actions that EU Member States should take to promote "good governance" in the tax area (i.e. more transparency, exchange of information and fair tax competition). The

Climate of fear in British tax haven
April 27 (TJN) - Take a look at these remarkable words published in Britain's Hansard (official parliamentary publication) last Thursday, concerning a British Foreign Affairs Committee inquiry into Britain's Overseas Territories, notably looking at the Turks & Caicos islands.

Gordon Brown's indecent love affair
April 27 (TJN) - John Kay says the British government "conducted an indecent love affair with the financial services industry."

TJN and the round-the-world cyclist
Apr 27 (TJN) - Julian Sayarer who will be setting off from Rouen Cathedral in France on 10th June 2009 in an attempt to set a new world record for circumnavigating the world while drawing attention to a number of small organizations which he feels are tackling the core issues.

Gordon Brown's indecent love affair
Apr 27 (TJN) - John Kay has been writing another of his insightful comments in the Financial Times. It is a reminder of something we already know - the government was hopelessly in bed with the bankers - and that it still seems to be true, despite the occasional sign of real fresh thinking.

Climate of fear in British tax haven
Apr 27 (TJN) - Take a look at these remarkable words published in Britain's Hansard (official parliamentary publication) last Thursday, concerning a British Foreign Affairs Committee inquiry into Britain's Overseas Territories, notably looking at the Turks & Caicos islands. Britain has a lot of control and influence over its tax havens, and it could and should act.

Britain's budget - tax sea change
Apr 24 (TJN) - A truly important element has emerged in Britain's budget, and it is not just the 50% tax rate on the seriously rich.

Raymond Baker of Global Financial Integrity in the FT
Apr 24 (TJN) - Our good friend Raymond Baker at Global Financial Integrity in Washington has a wonderful comment piece in the FT today. It starts by mentioning the extraordinary political impact his data has been having in India, which we have already noted too.

Economic crisis - an end in sight?
Apr 24 (TJN) - Many people seem to think that the world economy, after a bad period, may have put the worst behind it. The cover of this week's Economist Magazine vividly illustrates the alternative opinion.

Jon Stewart demolishes Jim Kramer
Apr 23 (TJN) - We missed this when it came out last month. This astonishing demolition by Jon Stewart of CNBC's Jim Kramer is unforgettable. More on the failures of financial journalists here, with additional reasons here.

Foot: A safe pair of hands
Apr 22 (TJN) – Michael Foot’s Progress Report seems to be another of those reviews that toe the party line, in this case on tax havens.

Dismembering a tax haven
Apr 22 (TJN) - Some French protesters dismantling a tax haven, in front of the Stock Exchange in Paris, ahead of the G20 summit. (OK, we're a bit late . . . )

On tax-free charities
Apr 22 (TJN) - A Cayman news organisation, bridling at the attack on offshore financial centres, recently accused charitable organizations of hypocrisy in the area of tax evasion.


EU unveils hedge fund regulation
April 29 (FT) - Angry criticism from all sides greeted EU proposals to regulate “alternative investment funds” Wednesday, with private equity and hedge fund managers claiming they would profoundly damage their industry and some politicians saying the proposed rules are too lax.

Firms Brace For Details Of Obama Tax Plan On Foreign Profits
April 29 (Dow Jones) - U.S. business groups are bracing for the release, slated for next week, of the Obama Administration's proposals to tax overseas profits. Treasury officials now believe repealing deferral would generate significantly more than that, business sources say, perhaps as much as $250 billion.

UK Revenue to pour quarter of its £4bn budget into battle against tax evasion
April 28 (Times) - HM Revenue & Customs is to spend £1 billion on enforcement and compliance this year to cut tax avoidance and evasion by £2.4 billion, Britain's most senior tax collector said last night.

Developing countries to benefit from tax haven crackdown
April 27 (Economy News) OECD head says a crackdown on tax havens and cross-border tax evasion will help developing countries to raise more revenues.

Switzerland offers US possible deal on tax
April 27 (The Times) Switzerland has offered to sign up to a new tax accord with the US if it drops a tax evasion case against UBS, the Swiss bank.

PM pledges to seek return of $100bn stashed abroad
April 27 (Guardian) India's prime minister, Manmohan Singh, has made an election campaign pledge to claw back more than $100bn (£68bn) of cash stashed abroad by the country's wealthy.

Swiss finance minister asks U.S. to drop tax cases with dual-tax pact: report
April 26 (Market Watch) Switzerland asked U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner for criminal cases involving Swiss bank UBS AG

European Lawmakers Urge End To EU Tax Havens By 2014
April 24 (Nasdaq) Lawmakers at the European Parliament called Friday on all European Union governments to give up banking secrecy from 2014 at the latest.

IRS Wins a Battle in the War on Tax Havens
April 24 (CTJ) Tax Day marked a small victory for law-abiding taxpayers who are tired of subsidizing those who evade their taxes. On April 15, the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado granted the government permission to serve a "John Doe" summons on First Data Corporation.

More offshore tax probes in works: NY's Morgenthau
April 24 (Reuters) New York investigators have launched more probes like the $350 million money laundering case against Lloyds and are also working to uncover wrongdoing in offshore tax havens.

Arbitration not litigation will solve transfer pricing wrangles
April 23 (Accountancy Age) The highly complex and divisive issue of transfer pricing the practice of pricing or handing goods or assets from one part of a company to another and the need for the transaction to be priced at arms length.
http://steuergerechtigkeit.blogspot.com/2009/04/tjn-direktor-auf-alpentour-osterreich.html

German cabinet backs bill to fight tax dodging
April 22 (Guardian) German Chancellor Angela Merkel's cabinet has approved a draft law that would give the government additional powers to oversee companies and individuals that do business in tax havens

New measures to curb evasion
April 22 ( FT) Britons who fail to report the full extent of their earnings are to be “named and shamed” by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) as another round of measures to curb tax evasion begins.

Tax Haven Questions Could Trip Up Panama Trade Pact
April 22 (WSJ) Questions about Panama's status as a tax haven have raised a new hurdle for U.S. approval of a free trade deal between the U.S. and the Central American nation.

Austria a top tax oasis, says expert
April 17 (Weiner Zeitung) Head of Tax Justice Network John Christensen included Austria along with the UK, Switzerland, Luxembourg and the US state of Delaware as among the top ten tax havens in the world

Mexico's Dirty Cash
April 20 (ISN) As much as US$25 billion in drug money is laundered in Mexico annually, and some experts say the Mexican financial system is set up to facilitate money laundering rather than impede it, writes Samuel Logan for ISN Security Watch.

Philippines to revise bank secrecy laws
April 20 (FT.com) The Philippines is preparing to revise its bank secrecy laws and strengthen the hand of anti-money laundering investigators following a brief appearance on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s tax haven blacklist.

German cabinet to discuss plan to fight tax dodgers
April 20 (Reuters) The German cabinet will discuss a draft law to fight tax dodging at its meeting on Wednesday, finally addressing the issue after numerous delays, a government spokesman said on Monday.

Guyana Discusses Offshore Financial Centre Proposals
April 20 (Tax-news) - Guyana’s Minister of Finance, Ashni Singh (pictured), underlined his support to facilitate the development of Guyana as an Offshore Financial Centre at a meeting of senior Government officials and representatives of the Guyana Association of Bankers.

Greenland liked by offshore centres for tax deals
April 17 (Reuters) Offshore centres are rushing to sign data exchange tax deals with small Nordic countries such as Greenland to be taken off a "grey" list of tax havens, making a mockery of a G20 bid to clamp down on evasion, campaigners said.

Tax rates
April 17 (TJN) - . . . have been higher before. US Cartoon

Tax havens: India getting serious?
April 17 (TJN) - The Indian Central Board of Direct Taxes is investigating ways of acting against roundtripping and treaty shopping, capitalizing on concerted attempts worldwide to force greater disclosure on tax havens, Tax News reports.

India waking up - Part II
April 17 (TJN) - We have just noted the tax justice agenda starting to create ripples in India. Now we've been sent something else from TaxAnalysts - no link, unfortunately, as it's a subscription-only service. This new article, which quotes TJN, may help explain the moves by India to try and tighten up on tax havens.

The Solution to Ireland's Austerity Plan  - Make Bono Pay Tax
February 26 (CounterPunch) Cork-born British television super-star Graham Norton commented at the time: "People like Bono really annoy me. He goes to hell and back to avoid paying tax. He has a special accountant. He works out Irish tax loopholes.

Guyana Discusses Offshore Financial Centre Proposals, by Phillip Morton, Investors Offshore.com
April 20 (Tax-news) - Guyana’s Minister of Finance, Ashni Singh (pictured), underlined his support to facilitate the development of Guyana as an Offshore Financial Centre at a meeting of senior Government officials and representatives of the Guyana Association of Bankers. 

Guernsey press on Brown: playground bully
April 15 (TJN) – Jersey pretends not to care about the new UK letters. Guernsey’s press responds by calling Brown the “playground bully.”

A reminder: exchange of information can work
April 15 (TJN) - Accountancy magazine quotes a senior chartered accountant as saying that the cost of filtering through information obtained in the proposed global crackdown on tax havens may outweigh the revenue raised: "There’s so much data they don’t know what to do with it. How will HMRC deal with it?" This is nonsense, as Richard Murphy points out.

Over 70% support tax crackdown on wealthy
April 14 (TJN) - The British organisation Compass has published new research: "The results reveal that 77% indicated they agree that the government should do everything it can to close this £15 billion gap lost through personal tax avoidance."

OECD vs EU
April 16 (TJN) - Richard HayHard line European countries are successfully pursuing a competing information exchange philosophy - comprehensive and automatic information exchange - in the recently adopted Savings Tax Directive. If the OECD plan sinks, the EU philosophy will gain ground as the accepted international standard for tax information exchange."

Indian Tax Authority Considers Ways To Reduce Use Of Tax Havens
April 17 (Tax News) - The Indian Central Board of Direct Taxes is investigating ways of acting against roundtripping and treaty shopping, capitalizing on concerted attempts worldwide to force greater disclosure on tax havens. India is examining its own financial relationships with Mauritius and Cyprus in particular, which together account for 46% of total inward direct investment into India in the last decade. In fact Mauritius overtook the US in this period as the largest direct investor in India.

Jersey Funds Industry To Benefit From New Investment Vehicles Structures
April 16 (Tax News) - Jersey’s funds industry is set to benefit from the introduction of new legislation this year which will offer more choice for fund promoters over how they structure their investment vehicles, according to funds lawyers, Joel Hernandez and Sophie Travis at Jersey law firm, Mourant du Feu & Jeune.

Switzerland May Implement Sanctions Against OECD
April 16 (Tax News) - Switzerland may exercise its veto on various key votes within the OECD together with applying other financial sanctions aimed increasingly at Angel Gurria, the OECD Secretary-General in protest at the way he personally is applying pressure to relax bank secrecy laws and share information for tax purposes.

Switzerland Ready to Return $130m Loot
April 16 (This Day) - The Government of Switzerland yesterday said it would be willing to release the $150 million Halliburton bribe money trapped in Swiss bank accounts if Nigeria formally requests for assistance."We have discovered that $150 million of the bribe money is in Zurich.”

 ‘Eaten alive by investment bankers’
April 16 (FT) - “I witnessed trusting and naive provincial building society executives and non-executives, who had no real understanding of securitisation or structured finance or any other aspect of the workings of global capital markets, being eaten alive by cynical, rapacious and short-termist investment bankers

Financial Watchdog Lacks Bite
April 16 (FT) - Lord Turner of Ecchinswell, who became chairman of the FSA last September, has admitted that the City watchdog’s previous “light touch” form of regulation was a mistake. Lord Turner proposed restrictions on excessive bonuses and greater regulation of the “shadow banking” system, such as hedge funds and offshore tax havens.

UBS Client Pleads Guilty in Tax Case
April 14 (NYT) - A wealthy UBS private banking client whose yacht company caters to Russian oligarchs, Kuwaiti royals and other global jet-setters, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to tax fraud, the second American caught in a widening investigation of the Swiss banking giant.  

Radio: William Brittain-Catlin on tax havens

Radio: TJN's John Christensen on BBC World Service Analysis

Credit Card Processor Asked for Offshore Data
April 15 (NYT) - The federal government is widening its investigation of offshore tax evasion to include services sold by the First Data Corporation, a large processor of credit card transactions.

Still No Verdict in Castroneves Tax Case
April 15 (AP) - Jury deliberations will stretch into a fifth day in the complex tax evasion case of Brazilian race car driver Helio Castroneves and two co-defendants.

Obama Vows to Reform "Monstrous" Tax Code
April 15 (Reuters) - President Barack Obama promised Americans his administration would reform the "monstrous" U.S. tax system as millions faced the dreaded annual deadline on Wednesday for filing income tax returns.

The quiet coup
The American financial industry gained political power by amassing a kind of cultural capital—a belief system. Once, perhaps, what was good for General Motors was good for the country. Over the past decade, the attitude took hold that what was good for Wall Street was good for the country. The banking-and-securities industry has become one of the top contributors to political campaigns, but at the peak of its influence, it did not have to buy favors the way, for example, the tobacco companies or military contractors might have to. Instead, it benefited from the fact that Washington insiders already believed that large financial institutions and free-flowing capital markets were crucial to America’s position in the world.

Digger: Clubs no haven for super rich
April 7 (Guardian) - The ultimate controlling party for more than a third of the 20 Premier League clubs are based offshore

Panama holds out against campaign to end era of banking secrecy
April 13 (Times Online) Faced with the growing hostility of politicians, some tax havens quickly crumbled under the pressure.

Round-tripped FDI from tax havens under OECD review
April 13 (Financial Express) Days after G-20 nations agreed to crack down on tax havens where nearly $11 trillion is parked, the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has begun a review of India’s foreign direct investment (FDI) policy to suggest measures that will ease sector-specific ceilings as well as look into issues of round tripping.

Lord Ashcroft’s Belize Bank – a supplier of tax evasion services?
April 13 (Tax Research) The Belize Bank is owned by Lord Ashcroft – one of the biggest funders of the UK’s Conservative Party.

Swiss bank 'to close US customer accounts'
April 13 (Guardian) The Swiss bank Credit Suisse is edging towards closing the accounts of thousands of American customers as tax authorities in Washington step up a campaign against offshore banking secrecy.

It is time to put finance back in its box
April 13 (Financial Times) Nicolas Sarkozy arrived at the Group of 20 summit having said: “The all-powerful market that is always right is finished.” The French president left it proclaiming “a page has been turned” on the Anglo-Saxon financial model.

Welcome to tax-dodge city, USA
April 10 (Guardian) It lacks the palm-fringed sandy beaches of the Cayman Islands. Or the craggy Alpine peaks of Liechtenstein. But should the second smallest US state, Delaware, go on a blacklist of globally notorious tax havens?

New CTJ Fact Sheet: Do the Rich Really Pay Over a Third of Their Income in Federal Income Taxes?
April 10 (Tax Justice Digest) As we approach April 15th, one complaint we often hear is that Americans who work hard and become successful have to pay over a third of their income in federal income taxes. But a recent report from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) shows that this is not remotely true.

The G20’s plan to tackle banking secrecy is a small step in the right direction, says Prem Sikka
April 9 (Tribune Magazine) TAX avoidance has undermined the tax base of many countries

Shackelford Presents Corporate Income Tax Burdens at Home and Abroad Today at Northwestern
April 9 (Tax Prof Blog) Douglas Shackelford (University of North Carolina, Kenan-Flagler Business School) presents Corporate Income Tax Burdens at Home and Abroad (with Kevin Markle (University of North Carolina, Kenan-Flagler Business School) at Northwestern today as part of its Advanced Topics in Taxation Series organized by Tom Brennan and Charlotte Crane.  

Distributional Consequences of Converting the Property Tax to a Land Value Tax
April 8 (Tax Prof Blog) John H Bowman and Michael E Bell have published Distributional Consequences of Converting the Property Tax to a Land Value Tax: Replication and Extension of England and Zhao

Cabinet seeks greater say on tax haven laws
April 8 (Swiss Info) Switzerland is seeking to boost international cooperation to avoid a repeat of sanction threats against its financial centre.

Is the sun setting on Tax Dodgers?
Comment article from our friends at GFI.

Come to Sunny Jersey!
April 8 (Senator Stuart Syvret Blog) Just a brief post as I am doing yet more legal work - and as I've commented elsewhere, the police raid and search of my home on on Monday was - most definitely -unlawful.

Six tax breaks you've probably never heard of.
April 7 (Newsweek) Ah, the wild, wacky tax code—you gotta love it. With more than 20,000 pages of rules and regulations, there's something in it for everyone. And we mean everyone.

From the House That Ruth Built to the House the IRS Built
April 6 (Tax Foundation) The stadium's construction costs have been publicly subsidized in the form of $942 million in tax-exempt bonds issued by New York City.[3] Seeking tax-free status for the bonds to ensure a lower interest rate, New York structured the deal to ensure it didn't run afoul of a federal tax code provision which requires that such bonds not be "private activity bonds."
 

 

Where next on tax after the London Summit?
Apr 8 (TJN) – Two linked events on tax evasion and avoidance in a new era.

Two quotes - pollution and prediction
Apr 8 (TJN) - A reminder of our quotations page. Two quotations for the day.

Tax Analysts Launches Tax.com
Apr 8 (TJN) - TaxAnalysts is a well-respected American tax publication, hosting a variety of opinions, only some of which TJN would agree with. It is a subscription-only service. Now TaxProf informs us that Tax Analysts has launched Tax,com, self-described as "The Tax Daily for the Citizen Taxpayer."

BREAKING NEWS - Britain writes to its tax havens
Apr 9 (TJN) - We have just received copies of letters to the British tax havens from No. 10, Downing Street (for non-British readers, that's the British Prime Minster's office.) TJN is extremely encouraged by the content of these letters, notwithstanding the diplomatic language in which the points are made.

U.S. wealthy - how much tax do they pay?
Apr 13 (TJN) - This is a recurring theme in newspapers and the blogosphere. We note this new fact sheet from Citizens for Tax Justice in the U.S., which has crunched the numbers.

Swiss banker to EU: we knew we were tricking you
Apr 13 (TJN) - Konrad Hummler, the head of the Swiss private bankers' association, has made some fiery and anti-democratic statements in his time, but his recent comment on the EU Savings Tax Directive is particularlyeresting. 

 BREAKING NEWS - Britain writes to its tax havens
April 9 (TJN) - We have just received copies of letters to the British tax havens from No. 10, Downing Street. TJN is extremely encouraged by the content of these letters, notwithstanding the diplomatic language in which the points are made. We single out these points:

Iustitia et Pax
April 6 (TJN) - TJN's director John Christensen has been awarded the Justice and Peace – Iustitia et Pax - medal from the Vatican. Signed by Cardinal Renato Martino, President of the Pontificium Consilium de Iustitia et Pace.

Last week: a curate's egg - G20 and OECD
April 6 (TJN) - We've had a bit more time to reflect on the fast-moving events over the past week or so. In summary: the G20 TJN's agenda made useful strides, despite many disappointments. The OECD list has, by contrast, been on balance a highly negative development.

The OECD's list: we have a better idea - the FTI
April 6 (TJN) - TJN is putting together its own list, in partnership with Berlin-based Transparency International and Christian Aid, ranking jurisdictions in a new Financial Transparency Index(FTI). This will be a more objective, and more accurate, list of tax havens and what they do.

Tax Justice USA: secrecy remains intact
April 6 (TJN) - We note with concern that every element of the global shadow financial system remains intact. Comprising tax havens, secrecy jurisdictions, disguised corporations, anonymous trust accounts, fake foundations, trade mispricing techniques, and money laundering mechanisms, this structure moves cumulatively trillions of dollars across borders."

Tax Analysts Launches Tax.com
April 8 (TJN) - TaxAnalysts is a well-respected American tax publication, hosting a variety of opinions, only some of which TJN would agree with. Tax Analysts has launched Tax,com, self-described as "The Tax Daily for the Citizen Taxpayer".

Two quotes - pollution and prediction
April 8 (TJN) - Tax shelters are to democracy what pollution is to the environment
-    David Cay Johnston, in Perfectly Legal: The Covert Campaign to Rig Our Tax System

Where next on tax after the London Summit?
April 8 (TJN) - Two tax justice events, linked together. At the LSE, April 30.

Ten principles for a Black Swan-proof world
April 8 (TJN) - Ten principles from the FT today by Nassim Nicholas Taleb . Offshore operators, take note.

OECD blacklist - empty?
April 7 (TJN) - While we can give the OECD list approach credit for putting pressure to sign up to OECD standards, the speed and ease with which this has happened also gives an indication how unthreatening the OECD standards must be.

New paper on tax competition
April 7 (TJN) - A new paper is available (in English) in the publication Internationale Politik und Gesellschaft, Deadlocked European Tax Policy. Which Way Out of the Competition for the Lowest Taxes? by Christian Kellermann/Andreas Kammer.

The McIntyres give evidence
April 6 (TJN) - Two leading US tax experts, the brothers Bob McIntyre (Director of Citizens for Tax Justice) and Michael J. McIntyre (a professor of law at Wayne State University in Detroit, who recently wrote for TJN) have recently given evidence to the US House Committee on Ways and Means, looking at ways that the U.S. can reduce international tax evasion by wealthy Americans.

In praise of . . . decent people in indecent times
April 6 (TJN) - In the heat of the moment it is easy to forget how far TJN has come, and in such short time.

Eva Joly: G20, Berlin Wall and new book
April 6 (TJN) - The crime-fighting Norwegian special adviser and former Paris-based investigating magistrate Eva Joly has written a new book. "'The time of banking secrecy is over,' says the final declaration of the G20. A little presumptuous.. . . We cannot refound the global financial system with tax havens in our midst.

Infernal Machines - TJN Coimbra presentation
April 6 (TJN) - We now have a Portuguese translation of a paper that was the basis of a presentation made to the Faculty of Economics at the University of Coimbra, Portugal, on 25th March, 2009. (We noted this in our links here.)

Tax haven crackdown flushes out German tax dodgers
Apr 8 (Guardian) - Zumwinkel kicked off a bit of an avalanche," said Andreas Boehm, a lawyer based in central Berlin. "Afterwards, the number of people coming clean with us ... rose by about 400 to 500 percent. And that level has been maintained."

Tax havens just a tip of the iceberg
On Kibaki-era corruption, the three contracts entirely negotiated and signed by Narc administration officials involved transactions in the British tax havens of Jersey and Guernsey. A probe by the UK’s Serious Fraud

Swiss bank accounts freeze blow to looters
April (Eastern Standard) - The veil on the shadowy figures behind the Anglo Leasing-type contracts could soon be lifted following the decision by Swiss authorities to freeze major bank accounts held by fictitious companies. Kenya.

On information exchange
April 3 (TJN) 'TJN's Murphy on information exchange in the Guardian'

Draft briefing paper: on exchanging information
April 3 (TJN) TJN releases a public draft of a briefing paper on information exchange.

The OECD Global Forum: the list
April 3 (TJN) 'We now have a new tax haven list entitled "A Progress Report on the Jurisdictions Surveyed by the OECD Global Forum in Implementing the Internationally Agreed Tax Standard.'

Tax competition: Picking each others' pockets
April 3 (TJN) 'The Guardian today points out something that we have long said about an ideology that almost nobody in the mainstream media thought to question until now.'

G20 blogging
April 2 (TJN) 'Richard Murphy is in the thick of it today.'

A unilateralist China, tax havens' friend?
April 2 (TJN) 'We have long noted with concern China's willingness to protect tax havens close to it, notably Hong Kong and Macau, and possibly Singapore.'

Geldof gets it?
April 2 (TJN) 'The aid campaigner Bob Geldof apparently just told Richard Murphy, in front of a scrum of cameras, that it's time to close tax havens.'

UK government: tax havens contributed to the crisis
April 2 (TJN) Penny begins to drop?

G20: what we got
April 2 (TJN) 'Senior TJN advisor, director of Tax Research LLP and official G20 blogger Richard Murphy, assesses the pros and cons of the G20 party...

Sarkozy: we want a list or lists of tax havens
April 1 (TJN) “We want clear precision of what a tax haven is, not a place where you pay few taxes, but a place that doesn’t give information on the origin of funds. . . We want one or several lists of financial centers that don’t cooperate with regard to (the OECD criteria.)"

TJN Germany blog is live
March 31 (TJN) 'A rich new source of tax justice information will now be made available in German'

G20: Les gros se ménagent et s’en prennent aux petits
April 8 (e Temps) – The EU is not, or is no longer, defending its small members states against the larger ones. English web translation here.

Sévère passe d’armes entre la Suisse et l’OCDE au sujet du secret bancaire
April 8 (Le Temps) – Switzerland accuses the OECD of having been manipulated by the G20, while the OECD demands that Switzerland ratifies its exchange of information commitments rapidly. Translation.

Tax havens: any real change?
UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown declared "the start of the end" for tax havens as we know them, at the conclusion of last week's G20 summit in London. Is this the beginning of a new era of transparency in banking? TJN's Matti Kohonen debates with Pascal Saint-Amans of the OECD. English version, French version.

Tax haven crackdown not to yield much for India
 April 7, 2009,

Cayman Islands plays down "gray" tax haven listing
April 3 (Reuters) - The government of the Cayman Islands, a major Caribbean financial center, said on Friday it was moving to improve its cooperation to fight tax evasion and played down its inclusion on an OECD "gray list."

Northern Rock has £1bn branch in tax haven
April 5 (Times) - GORDON BROWN has been accused of the “height of hypocrisy” for allowing the state-owned Northern Rock to run an offshore bank in the Channel Islands while he is leading a global campaign against tax havens. Northern Rock Guernsey boasts on its website that it is a “major competitor in the offshore retail savings market”.

Swiss to discuss working with U.S. on tax
April 6 (Reuters) - Switzerland will start negotiations with the United States over its existing double-taxation treaty at the end of April, the Swiss ambassador to the United States told Swiss television late on Friday. "The first discussions already took place in Washington last week.

Officials: Nevada not tax Haven : State leaders rebut statement by premier from Luxembourg
April 6 (Las Vegas Review Journal) - The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations three years ago questioned a deputy secretary of state from Nevada, a Delaware official and others about laws that allow corporations to withhold the identity of their owners. An official told the subcommittee that the Internal Revenue Service was considering "mass audits" of Nevada corporations that do not file tax returns. An IRS official late Friday did not immediately know whether the agency conducted the audits.

The trouble with tax tricks
April 4 (Guardian) - Tax avoidance has created a mirage of large corporate profits, which has turned many a CEO into a media star and even secured knighthoods and peerages for some. Yet the profits have been manufactured by a sleight of hand. Let us get back to the basics.

Estate Tax: Senate Approves a Break for Millionaires that Leader Reid Calls "So Stunning, So Outrageous"
April 3 (CTJ) - Incredibly, 51 Senators voted to approve an amendment offered by Senators Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) and Jon Kyl (R-AZ) to cut the estate tax even more than this. The 2009 estate tax rules exempt the first

Cayman Islands signs tax information agreements with Nordic economies
April 1 (OECD) _ The Cayman Islands has signed bilateral agreements with seven Nordic economies - Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Norway and the Faroe Islands - on exchange of information for tax purposes.

Sinking assets
April 2 (The Economist) – The Economist changes its tune on tax havens. On Britain’s Crown Dependencies -Richard Murphy, who campaigns against tax havens, argues that, whatever else they may claim, these two Channel Islands rely on secrecy to attract business. If that is stripped away they are “dead in the water”, he says.

Live from the G-20 Summit: Another Blogger Breakthrough
April 2 (Huffington Post) I became the first blogger ever in world history to ask a question at a summit conference to a prime minister who had hosted the meeting. Listen to Richard here.


The strange case of Macau, the tax haven that disappeared
April 3 (BBC) – A reporter digs up some of the behind-the-scenes bargaining over the OECD list.

G20 declares door shut on tax havens
April 2 (Guardian) - The most dramatic crackdown on tax havens was unveiled by G20 leaders at their summit today, paving the way for the naming and shaming of countries that fail to comply with internationally agreed standards. (TJN notes progress, but is rather less enthusiastic.)

Petition on monetary reform
March (No 10) - We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to Include international and national monetary reform on the G20 agenda for 2nd April. More details here. http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/G20moneyreform/#detail

http://www.lecourrier.ch/special/promotion/aab5f2ae3772a2e/LeCourrier_2009-03-30.pdf

US and Gibraltar agree to share tax information
April 1 (Guardian) - The clampdown on tax havens around the world gathered pace today when the US government and Gibraltar announced an agreement to exchange information on tax matters.

Liechtenstein tax deal edges closer as France begins fraud inquiry
April 1 (Guardian) - The crackdown on tax havens across the world intensified last night as Britain's most senior taxman flew to Switzerland to negotiate a deal that the Treasury hopes will force British companies to stop using bank accounts in Liechtenstein to avoid paying tax.

Michelin, Total, Adidas face money-laundering probe
March 31 (France24) - Tyre maker Michelin, oil firm Total and sports firm Adidas are suspected of evading French taxes via accounts in the Alpine principality of Liechtenstein, French prosecutors said on Tuesday.

“G192” ONLY CREDIBLE BODY TO BRING ABOUT REFORMS
March 6 (SUNS) - The "G192", namely, the entire membership of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), is the only credible group to bring about the necessary reforms of the 21st century, in the context of the current global economic and financial crises, the President of the Assembly declared Thursday.

France Hints at Leaving G-20 Summit
MARCH 31 (Reuters) - French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said President Nicolas Sarkozy would walk away from this week's Group of 20 meeting in London if no progress was made on global financial regulations.

Brown backs new global assault on tax avoidance
April 5 (Observer) - Gordon Brown this weekend increased the likelihood of a co-ordinated global clampdown on aggressive tax avoidance by opening a new front against secret offshore financial centres.


Settlement Anticipated in UBS Case
June 22 (NYT) - The Justice Department may drop a closely watched legal case aimed at forcing the Swiss bank UBS to divulge the names of 52,000 wealthy American clients suspected of offshore tax evasion, a United States official briefed on the matter said Monday. The move could happen by mid-July.

OECD Upbeat on Tax Haven Progress
June 23 (Reuters) - Over these eight months, we have made more progress than in the last 10 years, says the OECD’s Angel Gurría. His
speech is here.

 Cayman proposes greater hedge fund disclosure
June 22 (Reuters) - The Cayman Islands could make available data such as a fund's directors, manager, auditors and administrator, an executive said. Currently it only discloses information such as a fund's licence number, its regulatory classification and the date it was authorised.

French Government Forces Banks To Increase Transparency
June 23 (Tax News) Intensifying the pressure on its banks, the French government is introducing a new measure requiring all French banks to disclose information regarding their links to tax havens. Indeed, eager to make this compulsory measure widespread, the French government is expected to try to convince other countries to follow suit at the next G20 summit meeting.

Switzerland strikes tax deal with US
June 19 (Reuters) Switzerland and the United States have reached agreement on a double taxation treaty, the Swiss finance ministry said on Friday, a key step towards removal from a list of tax havens.

Dutch press on with sale of Fortis tax arm
June 19 (FT) At a time when governments are launching a fierce assault on tax havens, the Fortis arm now owned by the Dutch government is pressing ahead with plans to sell a tax administration and structuring business.

OECD Global Forum On Tax Transparency To Meet Sep 1-2
June 18 (WSJ) The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said Thursday it plans to hold a meeting of its global forum on transparency and exchange of information Sept. 1-2. to discuss efforts to boost the sharing of tax data between countries.

New laws vital for OECD bid
June 18 (Miami Herald) Chile's bid to be the first South American member of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development by the end of this year could be dashed if lawmakers don't change bank secrecy laws ''as soon as possible,'' the OECD's legal chief said.

South Africa Investigates an Alleged Ponzi Scam
xJune 17 (WSJ), "South African police and financial regulators have joined forces to investigate a suspected Ponzi scheme that allegedly cost investors in several countries more than $1.2 billion, a Revenue Service spokesman said on Monday."

Multinationals to be forced to reveal tax bills
June 17 (Guardian) The UK is backing calls to force multi¬national companies to reveal precisely how much tax they pay in each jurisdiction they operate in. The move is being hailed as a significant breakthrough towards ending tax secrecy.

Indonesia's corruption court in fight for existence
June 17 (Reuters) It has put central bankers and government officials behind bars and is easily Indonesia's most feared judicial body. But the corruption court, an important weapon in the fight against graft, is now under threat itself.

Briton charged with Congo corruption
June 17 (FT) A police squad set up to tackle London's dire record on prosecuting over bribery overseas launched its first case against a British national yesterday.The City of London police anti-corruption unit said it had charged Patrick Orr, a solicitor, and two Dutch consultants over a $34m (£21m) United Nations deal to supply life-saving drugs to the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Govt may plug gaps in tax evasion laws
June 17 (Economic Times) The party could end soon for domestic and multinational companies that do tax planning only to avoid paying taxes in India.

Obama's offshore tax reforms prompt jitters in Ireland
June 16 (CS Monitor) President Obama launched his offshore tax reform proposals last month with a briefing note stating that Ireland, Bermuda, and the Netherlands accounted for nearly a third of all foreign profits reported by US corporations in 2003.

Swiss seek U.S. tax deal before UBS case continues
June 15 (Reuters) A looming court case against Swiss bank UBS AG (UBS.N) (UBSN.VX) could prove a stumbling block to the United States and Switzerland clinching a tax agreement this week.

Lloyds Bank hit by Obama tax purge
June 13 (Telegraph), "Lloyds Banking Group is ditching American customers based in Britain pending a crackdown on international tax evasion planned by President Barack Obama."

A nation of accountants
June 13 (Guardian - Prem Sikka) - The UK has about 50,000 family doctors, but nearly 280,000 professionally qualified accountants (pdf), often earning exorbitant salaries. That is almost the highest number per capita in the world. Yet it has not resulted in the publication of sensible company accounts, or worthwhile company audits.

European Commission's tax proposals
ECOFIN yesterday approved various proposals on `good governance in the tax area', including the Commission Communication on revising the EUSD. The agreements with Liechtenstein and the other havens are called `anti-fraud' agreements, but the Commission was also asked to open consultations with Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Andorra, Monaco and San Marino to revise their arrangements on the EUSD.
For just the tax aspects click here.

BDO Seidman ex-chief Denis Field indicted in tax evasion case
June 10 (LA Times) The former chief executive of a major accounting firm and six others were indicted in what authorities say was a wide-ranging criminal scheme that generated more than $7 billion in fraudulent tax losses.

Petrobras Starts Blog to Respond to Tax Probe Queries
June 10 (Bloomberg) Petroleo Brasileiro SA, the Brazilian oil company under investigation after a newspaper alleged tax evasion, is starting a blog to publish its responses to inquiries about the probe.

Barrett: Delaware a Tax Haven for Bloomberg? Oh, Never!
June 9 (Villiage Voice) The Times recently pointed out that while President Obama makes a lot of noise about shutting down overseas tax havens, there's an "onshore Cayman Islands" right here on the eastern seaboard: the little state of Delaware.

7 Indicted on Charges of Selling Tax Shelters
June 9 (NY Times) Federal authorities on Tuesday obtained an indictment against a former chief executive of the accounting firm BDO Seidman on charges of conspiracy, fraud and lying to the Internal Revenue Service in connection with his work on questionable tax shelters sold to wealthy investors.

No further comment from the Cayman Islands
June 8 (TJN) Recently the Financial Task Force website picked up a TJN blog, which in turn attracted a rather barbed comment from Anthony Travers, chairman of the Cayman Islands Financial Services Authority (CIFSA).

For 300 years Britain has outsourced mayhem. Finally it's coming home
June 8 (Guardian) t's not as if this is the first time Britain's representatives have been caught out. The history of governments in all countries is the history of scandal, as those who rise to the top are generally the most ambitious, ruthless and unscrupulous people politics can produce.

Warnings from the Past
Jun 7 (Bad Conscience) - Remaining on the subject of tax havens, it’s worth noting a story in today’s Observer about the Turks & Caicos Islands. In short, the Government is using a Statutory Instrument to take over control of the Turks & Caicos because it is in a state of rampant chaos.

Die Volkswirtschaft
A useful collection of various tax and economy-related articles in German, with a link to the same in French.

It’s Finished
May 28 (LRB) It’s a moment of confusion and loathing that most of us have experienced. You’re in a shop. It’s time to pay. You reach for your purse or wallet and take out your last note. Something about it doesn’t feel quite right.

Jersey Approves Foundations Law
June 12 (Tax News) Jersey’s Privy Council has approved an order allowing Foundations to be set up in Jersey. At a meeting held this week in London, an order was made approving the Foundations (Jersey) Law 2009.

Microsoft Leaving the United States if Obama's Proposals Become Law?
 June 12 (CTJ) A column by Kevin Hassett on Bloomberg.com this week suggested that if President Obama's international tax policy proposals are enacted, Microsoft will move out of the country.

For 300 years Britain has outsourced mayhem. Finally it's coming home
Jun 8 (Guardian) - Opium, famine and banks all played their part in this country's plundering of the globe. Now it's over, we find it hard to accept.

MPs Blast HMRC Over Level Of Tax Debt
 June 12 (Tax News) An influential cross-party parliamentary committee in the UK has called on HM Revenue and Customs to improve its system for collecting outstanding tax debt after learning that the amount of money owed to the tax collector had grown to more than GBP17bn. 

Tax haven seeks taxpayer compliance
April 30 (TJN) - Bahamas is running short of money. There is outrage that non-compliance by local taxpayers is at the root of the problem. They might take a moment to consider the revenue costs that offshore centres like the Bahamas force on other developing countries.

Inequality - in shocking pictures
Apr 27 (TJN) – At the LEAP conference in London over the weekend, Richard Wilkinson presented data that amounted to the starkest demonstration we have ever seen on the perils of inequality.

Grimy Panama: new report
April 30 (TJN) - "President Obama's ability to deliver on his campaign commitments to close tax loopholes that promote offshoring and re-regulate the financial sector would be dealt a sharp blow if the U.S.-Panama Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is passed."

Britain's budget doublethink
April 27 (TJN) - Much attention has been paid recently to the new 50p tax rate in Britain's budget, raising taxes on high earners. Yet in the same budget, something completely different emerged.

Report from the Offshore Alert conference
April 29 (TJN) - Our colleague Sarah Lewis at TJN-USA has been blogging from the 7th Annual Offshore Alert Financial Due Diligence Conference in Miami. We are delighted to host her as part of our "Guest Blogger"

New EU proposals on tax and transparency
April 28 (TJN) - From the EU: "The European Commission today has adopted a Communication identifying actions that EU Member States should take to promote "good governance" in the tax area (i.e. more transparency, exchange of information and fair tax competition). The

Climate of fear in British tax haven
April 27 (TJN) - Take a look at these remarkable words published in Britain's Hansard (official parliamentary publication) last Thursday, concerning a British Foreign Affairs Committee inquiry into Britain's Overseas Territories, notably looking at the Turks & Caicos islands.

Gordon Brown's indecent love affair
April 27 (TJN) - John Kay says the British government "conducted an indecent love affair with the financial services industry."

TJN and the round-the-world cyclist
Apr 27 (TJN) - Julian Sayarer who will be setting off from Rouen Cathedral in France on 10th June 2009 in an attempt to set a new world record for circumnavigating the world while drawing attention to a number of small organizations which he feels are tackling the core issues.

Gordon Brown's indecent love affair
Apr 27 (TJN) - John Kay has been writing another of his insightful comments in the Financial Times. It is a reminder of something we already know - the government was hopelessly in bed with the bankers - and that it still seems to be true, despite the occasional sign of real fresh thinking.

Climate of fear in British tax haven
Apr 27 (TJN) - Take a look at these remarkable words published in Britain's Hansard (official parliamentary publication) last Thursday, concerning a British Foreign Affairs Committee inquiry into Britain's Overseas Territories, notably looking at the Turks & Caicos islands. Britain has a lot of control and influence over its tax havens, and it could and should act.

Britain's budget - tax sea change
Apr 24 (TJN) - A truly important element has emerged in Britain's budget, and it is not just the 50% tax rate on the seriously rich.

Raymond Baker of Global Financial Integrity in the FT
Apr 24 (TJN) - Our good friend Raymond Baker at Global Financial Integrity in Washington has a wonderful comment piece in the FT today. It starts by mentioning the extraordinary political impact his data has been having in India, which we have already noted too.

Economic crisis - an end in sight?
Apr 24 (TJN) - Many people seem to think that the world economy, after a bad period, may have put the worst behind it. The cover of this week's Economist Magazine vividly illustrates the alternative opinion.

Jon Stewart demolishes Jim Kramer
Apr 23 (TJN) - We missed this when it came out last month. This astonishing demolition by Jon Stewart of CNBC's Jim Kramer is unforgettable. More on the failures of financial journalists here, with additional reasons here.

Foot: A safe pair of hands
Apr 22 (TJN) – Michael Foot’s Progress Report seems to be another of those reviews that toe the party line, in this case on tax havens.

Dismembering a tax haven
Apr 22 (TJN) - Some French protesters dismantling a tax haven, in front of the Stock Exchange in Paris, ahead of the G20 summit. (OK, we're a bit late . . . )

On tax-free charities
Apr 22 (TJN) - A Cayman news organisation, bridling at the attack on offshore financial centres, recently accused charitable organizations of hypocrisy in the area of tax evasion.


EU unveils hedge fund regulation
April 29 (FT) - Angry criticism from all sides greeted EU proposals to regulate “alternative investment funds” Wednesday, with private equity and hedge fund managers claiming they would profoundly damage their industry and some politicians saying the proposed rules are too lax.

Firms Brace For Details Of Obama Tax Plan On Foreign Profits
April 29 (Dow Jones) - U.S. business groups are bracing for the release, slated for next week, of the Obama Administration's proposals to tax overseas profits. Treasury officials now believe repealing deferral would generate significantly more than that, business sources say, perhaps as much as $250 billion.

UK Revenue to pour quarter of its £4bn budget into battle against tax evasion
April 28 (Times) - HM Revenue & Customs is to spend £1 billion on enforcement and compliance this year to cut tax avoidance and evasion by £2.4 billion, Britain's most senior tax collector said last night.

Developing countries to benefit from tax haven crackdown
April 27 (Economy News) OECD head says a crackdown on tax havens and cross-border tax evasion will help developing countries to raise more revenues.

Switzerland offers US possible deal on tax
April 27 (The Times) Switzerland has offered to sign up to a new tax accord with the US if it drops a tax evasion case against UBS, the Swiss bank.

PM pledges to seek return of $100bn stashed abroad
April 27 (Guardian) India's prime minister, Manmohan Singh, has made an election campaign pledge to claw back more than $100bn (£68bn) of cash stashed abroad by the country's wealthy.

Swiss finance minister asks U.S. to drop tax cases with dual-tax pact: report
April 26 (Market Watch) Switzerland asked U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner for criminal cases involving Swiss bank UBS AG

European Lawmakers Urge End To EU Tax Havens By 2014
April 24 (Nasdaq) Lawmakers at the European Parliament called Friday on all European Union governments to give up banking secrecy from 2014 at the latest.

IRS Wins a Battle in the War on Tax Havens
April 24 (CTJ) Tax Day marked a small victory for law-abiding taxpayers who are tired of subsidizing those who evade their taxes. On April 15, the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado granted the government permission to serve a "John Doe" summons on First Data Corporation.

More offshore tax probes in works: NY's Morgenthau
April 24 (Reuters) New York investigators have launched more probes like the $350 million money laundering case against Lloyds and are also working to uncover wrongdoing in offshore tax havens.

Arbitration not litigation will solve transfer pricing wrangles
April 23 (Accountancy Age) The highly complex and divisive issue of transfer pricing the practice of pricing or handing goods or assets from one part of a company to another and the need for the transaction to be priced at arms length.
http://steuergerechtigkeit.blogspot.com/2009/04/tjn-direktor-auf-alpentour-osterreich.html

German cabinet backs bill to fight tax dodging
April 22 (Guardian) German Chancellor Angela Merkel's cabinet has approved a draft law that would give the government additional powers to oversee companies and individuals that do business in tax havens

New measures to curb evasion
April 22 ( FT) Britons who fail to report the full extent of their earnings are to be “named and shamed” by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) as another round of measures to curb tax evasion begins.

Tax Haven Questions Could Trip Up Panama Trade Pact
April 22 (WSJ) Questions about Panama's status as a tax haven have raised a new hurdle for U.S. approval of a free trade deal between the U.S. and the Central American nation.

Austria a top tax oasis, says expert
April 17 (Weiner Zeitung) Head of Tax Justice Network John Christensen included Austria along with the UK, Switzerland, Luxembourg and the US state of Delaware as among the top ten tax havens in the world

Mexico's Dirty Cash
April 20 (ISN) As much as US$25 billion in drug money is laundered in Mexico annually, and some experts say the Mexican financial system is set up to facilitate money laundering rather than impede it, writes Samuel Logan for ISN Security Watch.

Philippines to revise bank secrecy laws
April 20 (FT.com) The Philippines is preparing to revise its bank secrecy laws and strengthen the hand of anti-money laundering investigators following a brief appearance on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s tax haven blacklist.

German cabinet to discuss plan to fight tax dodgers
April 20 (Reuters) The German cabinet will discuss a draft law to fight tax dodging at its meeting on Wednesday, finally addressing the issue after numerous delays, a government spokesman said on Monday.

Guyana Discusses Offshore Financial Centre Proposals
April 20 (Tax-news) - Guyana’s Minister of Finance, Ashni Singh (pictured), underlined his support to facilitate the development of Guyana as an Offshore Financial Centre at a meeting of senior Government officials and representatives of the Guyana Association of Bankers.

Greenland liked by offshore centres for tax deals
April 17 (Reuters) Offshore centres are rushing to sign data exchange tax deals with small Nordic countries such as Greenland to be taken off a "grey" list of tax havens, making a mockery of a G20 bid to clamp down on evasion, campaigners said.

Tax rates
April 17 (TJN) - . . . have been higher before. US Cartoon

Tax havens: India getting serious?
April 17 (TJN) - The Indian Central Board of Direct Taxes is investigating ways of acting against roundtripping and treaty shopping, capitalizing on concerted attempts worldwide to force greater disclosure on tax havens, Tax News reports.

India waking up - Part II
April 17 (TJN) - We have just noted the tax justice agenda starting to create ripples in India. Now we've been sent something else from TaxAnalysts - no link, unfortunately, as it's a subscription-only service. This new article, which quotes TJN, may help explain the moves by India to try and tighten up on tax havens.

The Solution to Ireland's Austerity Plan  - Make Bono Pay Tax
February 26 (CounterPunch) Cork-born British television super-star Graham Norton commented at the time: "People like Bono really annoy me. He goes to hell and back to avoid paying tax. He has a special accountant. He works out Irish tax loopholes.

Guyana Discusses Offshore Financial Centre Proposals, by Phillip Morton, Investors Offshore.com
April 20 (Tax-news) - Guyana’s Minister of Finance, Ashni Singh (pictured), underlined his support to facilitate the development of Guyana as an Offshore Financial Centre at a meeting of senior Government officials and representatives of the Guyana Association of Bankers. 

Guernsey press on Brown: playground bully
April 15 (TJN) – Jersey pretends not to care about the new UK letters. Guernsey’s press responds by calling Brown the “playground bully.”

A reminder: exchange of information can work
April 15 (TJN) - Accountancy magazine quotes a senior chartered accountant as saying that the cost of filtering through information obtained in the proposed global crackdown on tax havens may outweigh the revenue raised: "There’s so much data they don’t know what to do with it. How will HMRC deal with it?" This is nonsense, as Richard Murphy points out.

Over 70% support tax crackdown on wealthy
April 14 (TJN) - The British organisation Compass has published new research: "The results reveal that 77% indicated they agree that the government should do everything it can to close this £15 billion gap lost through personal tax avoidance."

OECD vs EU
April 16 (TJN) - Richard HayHard line European countries are successfully pursuing a competing information exchange philosophy - comprehensive and automatic information exchange - in the recently adopted Savings Tax Directive. If the OECD plan sinks, the EU philosophy will gain ground as the accepted international standard for tax information exchange."

Indian Tax Authority Considers Ways To Reduce Use Of Tax Havens
April 17 (Tax News) - The Indian Central Board of Direct Taxes is investigating ways of acting against roundtripping and treaty shopping, capitalizing on concerted attempts worldwide to force greater disclosure on tax havens. India is examining its own financial relationships with Mauritius and Cyprus in particular, which together account for 46% of total inward direct investment into India in the last decade. In fact Mauritius overtook the US in this period as the largest direct investor in India.

Jersey Funds Industry To Benefit From New Investment Vehicles Structures
April 16 (Tax News) - Jersey’s funds industry is set to benefit from the introduction of new legislation this year which will offer more choice for fund promoters over how they structure their investment vehicles, according to funds lawyers, Joel Hernandez and Sophie Travis at Jersey law firm, Mourant du Feu & Jeune.

Switzerland May Implement Sanctions Against OECD
April 16 (Tax News) - Switzerland may exercise its veto on various key votes within the OECD together with applying other financial sanctions aimed increasingly at Angel Gurria, the OECD Secretary-General in protest at the way he personally is applying pressure to relax bank secrecy laws and share information for tax purposes.

Switzerland Ready to Return $130m Loot
April 16 (This Day) - The Government of Switzerland yesterday said it would be willing to release the $150 million Halliburton bribe money trapped in Swiss bank accounts if Nigeria formally requests for assistance."We have discovered that $150 million of the bribe money is in Zurich.”

 ‘Eaten alive by investment bankers’
April 16 (FT) - “I witnessed trusting and naive provincial building society executives and non-executives, who had no real understanding of securitisation or structured finance or any other aspect of the workings of global capital markets, being eaten alive by cynical, rapacious and short-termist investment bankers

Financial Watchdog Lacks Bite
April 16 (FT) - Lord Turner of Ecchinswell, who became chairman of the FSA last September, has admitted that the City watchdog’s previous “light touch” form of regulation was a mistake. Lord Turner proposed restrictions on excessive bonuses and greater regulation of the “shadow banking” system, such as hedge funds and offshore tax havens.

UBS Client Pleads Guilty in Tax Case
April 14 (NYT) - A wealthy UBS private banking client whose yacht company caters to Russian oligarchs, Kuwaiti royals and other global jet-setters, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to tax fraud, the second American caught in a widening investigation of the Swiss banking giant.  

Radio: William Brittain-Catlin on tax havens

Radio: TJN's John Christensen on BBC World Service Analysis

Credit Card Processor Asked for Offshore Data
April 15 (NYT) - The federal government is widening its investigation of offshore tax evasion to include services sold by the First Data Corporation, a large processor of credit card transactions.

Still No Verdict in Castroneves Tax Case
April 15 (AP) - Jury deliberations will stretch into a fifth day in the complex tax evasion case of Brazilian race car driver Helio Castroneves and two co-defendants.

Obama Vows to Reform "Monstrous" Tax Code
April 15 (Reuters) - President Barack Obama promised Americans his administration would reform the "monstrous" U.S. tax system as millions faced the dreaded annual deadline on Wednesday for filing income tax returns.

The quiet coup
The American financial industry gained political power by amassing a kind of cultural capital—a belief system. Once, perhaps, what was good for General Motors was good for the country. Over the past decade, the attitude took hold that what was good for Wall Street was good for the country. The banking-and-securities industry has become one of the top contributors to political campaigns, but at the peak of its influence, it did not have to buy favors the way, for example, the tobacco companies or military contractors might have to. Instead, it benefited from the fact that Washington insiders already believed that large financial institutions and free-flowing capital markets were crucial to America’s position in the world.

Digger: Clubs no haven for super rich
April 7 (Guardian) - The ultimate controlling party for more than a third of the 20 Premier League clubs are based offshore

Panama holds out against campaign to end era of banking secrecy
April 13 (Times Online) Faced with the growing hostility of politicians, some tax havens quickly crumbled under the pressure.

Round-tripped FDI from tax havens under OECD review
April 13 (Financial Express) Days after G-20 nations agreed to crack down on tax havens where nearly $11 trillion is parked, the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has begun a review of India’s foreign direct investment (FDI) policy to suggest measures that will ease sector-specific ceilings as well as look into issues of round tripping.

Lord Ashcroft’s Belize Bank – a supplier of tax evasion services?
April 13 (Tax Research) The Belize Bank is owned by Lord Ashcroft – one of the biggest funders of the UK’s Conservative Party.

Swiss bank 'to close US customer accounts'
April 13 (Guardian) The Swiss bank Credit Suisse is edging towards closing the accounts of thousands of American customers as tax authorities in Washington step up a campaign against offshore banking secrecy.

It is time to put finance back in its box
April 13 (Financial Times) Nicolas Sarkozy arrived at the Group of 20 summit having said: “The all-powerful market that is always right is finished.” The French president left it proclaiming “a page has been turned” on the Anglo-Saxon financial model.

Welcome to tax-dodge city, USA
April 10 (Guardian) It lacks the palm-fringed sandy beaches of the Cayman Islands. Or the craggy Alpine peaks of Liechtenstein. But should the second smallest US state, Delaware, go on a blacklist of globally notorious tax havens?

New CTJ Fact Sheet: Do the Rich Really Pay Over a Third of Their Income in Federal Income Taxes?
April 10 (Tax Justice Digest) As we approach April 15th, one complaint we often hear is that Americans who work hard and become successful have to pay over a third of their income in federal income taxes. But a recent report from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) shows that this is not remotely true.

The G20’s plan to tackle banking secrecy is a small step in the right direction, says Prem Sikka
April 9 (Tribune Magazine) TAX avoidance has undermined the tax base of many countries

Shackelford Presents Corporate Income Tax Burdens at Home and Abroad Today at Northwestern
April 9 (Tax Prof Blog) Douglas Shackelford (University of North Carolina, Kenan-Flagler Business School) presents Corporate Income Tax Burdens at Home and Abroad (with Kevin Markle (University of North Carolina, Kenan-Flagler Business School) at Northwestern today as part of its Advanced Topics in Taxation Series organized by Tom Brennan and Charlotte Crane.  

Distributional Consequences of Converting the Property Tax to a Land Value Tax
April 8 (Tax Prof Blog) John H Bowman and Michael E Bell have published Distributional Consequences of Converting the Property Tax to a Land Value Tax: Replication and Extension of England and Zhao

Cabinet seeks greater say on tax haven laws
April 8 (Swiss Info) Switzerland is seeking to boost international cooperation to avoid a repeat of sanction threats against its financial centre.

Is the sun setting on Tax Dodgers?
Comment article from our friends at GFI.

Come to Sunny Jersey!
April 8 (Senator Stuart Syvret Blog) Just a brief post as I am doing yet more legal work - and as I've commented elsewhere, the police raid and search of my home on on Monday was - most definitely -unlawful.

Six tax breaks you've probably never heard of.
April 7 (Newsweek) Ah, the wild, wacky tax code—you gotta love it. With more than 20,000 pages of rules and regulations, there's something in it for everyone. And we mean everyone.

From the House That Ruth Built to the House the IRS Built
April 6 (Tax Foundation) The stadium's construction costs have been publicly subsidized in the form of $942 million in tax-exempt bonds issued by New York City.[3] Seeking tax-free status for the bonds to ensure a lower interest rate, New York structured the deal to ensure it didn't run afoul of a federal tax code provision which requires that such bonds not be "private activity bonds."
 

 

Where next on tax after the London Summit?
Apr 8 (TJN) – Two linked events on tax evasion and avoidance in a new era.

Two quotes - pollution and prediction
Apr 8 (TJN) - A reminder of our quotations page. Two quotations for the day.

Tax Analysts Launches Tax.com
Apr 8 (TJN) - TaxAnalysts is a well-respected American tax publication, hosting a variety of opinions, only some of which TJN would agree with. It is a subscription-only service. Now TaxProf informs us that Tax Analysts has launched Tax,com, self-described as "The Tax Daily for the Citizen Taxpayer."

BREAKING NEWS - Britain writes to its tax havens
Apr 9 (TJN) - We have just received copies of letters to the British tax havens from No. 10, Downing Street (for non-British readers, that's the British Prime Minster's office.) TJN is extremely encouraged by the content of these letters, notwithstanding the diplomatic language in which the points are made.

U.S. wealthy - how much tax do they pay?
Apr 13 (TJN) - This is a recurring theme in newspapers and the blogosphere. We note this new fact sheet from Citizens for Tax Justice in the U.S., which has crunched the numbers.

Swiss banker to EU: we knew we were tricking you
Apr 13 (TJN) - Konrad Hummler, the head of the Swiss private bankers' association, has made some fiery and anti-democratic statements in his time, but his recent comment on the EU Savings Tax Directive is particularlyeresting. 

 BREAKING NEWS - Britain writes to its tax havens
April 9 (TJN) - We have just received copies of letters to the British tax havens from No. 10, Downing Street. TJN is extremely encouraged by the content of these letters, notwithstanding the diplomatic language in which the points are made. We single out these points:

Iustitia et Pax
April 6 (TJN) - TJN's director John Christensen has been awarded the Justice and Peace – Iustitia et Pax - medal from the Vatican. Signed by Cardinal Renato Martino, President of the Pontificium Consilium de Iustitia et Pace.

Last week: a curate's egg - G20 and OECD
April 6 (TJN) - We've had a bit more time to reflect on the fast-moving events over the past week or so. In summary: the G20 TJN's agenda made useful strides, despite many disappointments. The OECD list has, by contrast, been on balance a highly negative development.

The OECD's list: we have a better idea - the FTI
April 6 (TJN) - TJN is putting together its own list, in partnership with Berlin-based Transparency International and Christian Aid, ranking jurisdictions in a new Financial Transparency Index(FTI). This will be a more objective, and more accurate, list of tax havens and what they do.

Tax Justice USA: secrecy remains intact
April 6 (TJN) - We note with concern that every element of the global shadow financial system remains intact. Comprising tax havens, secrecy jurisdictions, disguised corporations, anonymous trust accounts, fake foundations, trade mispricing techniques, and money laundering mechanisms, this structure moves cumulatively trillions of dollars across borders."

Tax Analysts Launches Tax.com
April 8 (TJN) - TaxAnalysts is a well-respected American tax publication, hosting a variety of opinions, only some of which TJN would agree with. Tax Analysts has launched Tax,com, self-described as "The Tax Daily for the Citizen Taxpayer".

Two quotes - pollution and prediction
April 8 (TJN) - Tax shelters are to democracy what pollution is to the environment
-    David Cay Johnston, in Perfectly Legal: The Covert Campaign to Rig Our Tax System

Where next on tax after the London Summit?
April 8 (TJN) - Two tax justice events, linked together. At the LSE, April 30.

Ten principles for a Black Swan-proof world
April 8 (TJN) - Ten principles from the FT today by Nassim Nicholas Taleb . Offshore operators, take note.

OECD blacklist - empty?
April 7 (TJN) - While we can give the OECD list approach credit for putting pressure to sign up to OECD standards, the speed and ease with which this has happened also gives an indication how unthreatening the OECD standards must be.

New paper on tax competition
April 7 (TJN) - A new paper is available (in English) in the publication Internationale Politik und Gesellschaft, Deadlocked European Tax Policy. Which Way Out of the Competition for the Lowest Taxes? by Christian Kellermann/Andreas Kammer.

The McIntyres give evidence
April 6 (TJN) - Two leading US tax experts, the brothers Bob McIntyre (Director of Citizens for Tax Justice) and Michael J. McIntyre (a professor of law at Wayne State University in Detroit, who recently wrote for TJN) have recently given evidence to the US House Committee on Ways and Means, looking at ways that the U.S. can reduce international tax evasion by wealthy Americans.

In praise of . . . decent people in indecent times
April 6 (TJN) - In the heat of the moment it is easy to forget how far TJN has come, and in such short time.

Eva Joly: G20, Berlin Wall and new book
April 6 (TJN) - The crime-fighting Norwegian special adviser and former Paris-based investigating magistrate Eva Joly has written a new book. "'The time of banking secrecy is over,' says the final declaration of the G20. A little presumptuous.. . . We cannot refound the global financial system with tax havens in our midst.

Infernal Machines - TJN Coimbra presentation
April 6 (TJN) - We now have a Portuguese translation of a paper that was the basis of a presentation made to the Faculty of Economics at the University of Coimbra, Portugal, on 25th March, 2009. (We noted this in our links here.)

Tax haven crackdown flushes out German tax dodgers
Apr 8 (Guardian) - Zumwinkel kicked off a bit of an avalanche," said Andreas Boehm, a lawyer based in central Berlin. "Afterwards, the number of people coming clean with us ... rose by about 400 to 500 percent. And that level has been maintained."

Tax havens just a tip of the iceberg
On Kibaki-era corruption, the three contracts entirely negotiated and signed by Narc administration officials involved transactions in the British tax havens of Jersey and Guernsey. A probe by the UK’s Serious Fraud

Swiss bank accounts freeze blow to looters
April (Eastern Standard) - The veil on the shadowy figures behind the Anglo Leasing-type contracts could soon be lifted following the decision by Swiss authorities to freeze major bank accounts held by fictitious companies. Kenya.

On information exchange
April 3 (TJN) 'TJN's Murphy on information exchange in the Guardian'

Draft briefing paper: on exchanging information
April 3 (TJN) TJN releases a public draft of a briefing paper on information exchange.

The OECD Global Forum: the list
April 3 (TJN) 'We now have a new tax haven list entitled "A Progress Report on the Jurisdictions Surveyed by the OECD Global Forum in Implementing the Internationally Agreed Tax Standard.'

Tax competition: Picking each others' pockets
April 3 (TJN) 'The Guardian today points out something that we have long said about an ideology that almost nobody in the mainstream media thought to question until now.'

G20 blogging
April 2 (TJN) 'Richard Murphy is in the thick of it today.'

A unilateralist China, tax havens' friend?
April 2 (TJN) 'We have long noted with concern China's willingness to protect tax havens close to it, notably Hong Kong and Macau, and possibly Singapore.'

Geldof gets it?
April 2 (TJN) 'The aid campaigner Bob Geldof apparently just told Richard Murphy, in front of a scrum of cameras, that it's time to close tax havens.'

UK government: tax havens contributed to the crisis
April 2 (TJN) Penny begins to drop?

G20: what we got
April 2 (TJN) 'Senior TJN advisor, director of Tax Research LLP and official G20 blogger Richard Murphy, assesses the pros and cons of the G20 party...

Sarkozy: we want a list or lists of tax havens
April 1 (TJN) “We want clear precision of what a tax haven is, not a place where you pay few taxes, but a place that doesn’t give information on the origin of funds. . . We want one or several lists of financial centers that don’t cooperate with regard to (the OECD criteria.)"

TJN Germany blog is live
March 31 (TJN) 'A rich new source of tax justice information will now be made available in German'

G20: Les gros se ménagent et s’en prennent aux petits
April 8 (e Temps) – The EU is not, or is no longer, defending its small members states against the larger ones. English web translation here.

Sévère passe d’armes entre la Suisse et l’OCDE au sujet du secret bancaire
April 8 (Le Temps) – Switzerland accuses the OECD of having been manipulated by the G20, while the OECD demands that Switzerland ratifies its exchange of information commitments rapidly. Translation.

Tax havens: any real change?
UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown declared "the start of the end" for tax havens as we know them, at the conclusion of last week's G20 summit in London. Is this the beginning of a new era of transparency in banking? TJN's Matti Kohonen debates with Pascal Saint-Amans of the OECD. English version, French version.

Tax haven crackdown not to yield much for India
 April 7, 2009,

Cayman Islands plays down "gray" tax haven listing
April 3 (Reuters) - The government of the Cayman Islands, a major Caribbean financial center, said on Friday it was moving to improve its cooperation to fight tax evasion and played down its inclusion on an OECD "gray list."

Northern Rock has £1bn branch in tax haven
April 5 (Times) - GORDON BROWN has been accused of the “height of hypocrisy” for allowing the state-owned Northern Rock to run an offshore bank in the Channel Islands while he is leading a global campaign against tax havens. Northern Rock Guernsey boasts on its website that it is a “major competitor in the offshore retail savings market”.

Swiss to discuss working with U.S. on tax
April 6 (Reuters) - Switzerland will start negotiations with the United States over its existing double-taxation treaty at the end of April, the Swiss ambassador to the United States told Swiss television late on Friday. "The first discussions already took place in Washington last week.

Officials: Nevada not tax Haven : State leaders rebut statement by premier from Luxembourg
April 6 (Las Vegas Review Journal) - The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations three years ago questioned a deputy secretary of state from Nevada, a Delaware official and others about laws that allow corporations to withhold the identity of their owners. An official told the subcommittee that the Internal Revenue Service was considering "mass audits" of Nevada corporations that do not file tax returns. An IRS official late Friday did not immediately know whether the agency conducted the audits.

The trouble with tax tricks
April 4 (Guardian) - Tax avoidance has created a mirage of large corporate profits, which has turned many a CEO into a media star and even secured knighthoods and peerages for some. Yet the profits have been manufactured by a sleight of hand. Let us get back to the basics.

Estate Tax: Senate Approves a Break for Millionaires that Leader Reid Calls "So Stunning, So Outrageous"
April 3 (CTJ) - Incredibly, 51 Senators voted to approve an amendment offered by Senators Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) and Jon Kyl (R-AZ) to cut the estate tax even more than this. The 2009 estate tax rules exempt the first

Cayman Islands signs tax information agreements with Nordic economies
April 1 (OECD) _ The Cayman Islands has signed bilateral agreements with seven Nordic economies - Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Norway and the Faroe Islands - on exchange of information for tax purposes.

Sinking assets
April 2 (The Economist) – The Economist changes its tune on tax havens. On Britain’s Crown Dependencies -Richard Murphy, who campaigns against tax havens, argues that, whatever else they may claim, these two Channel Islands rely on secrecy to attract business. If that is stripped away they are “dead in the water”, he says.

Live from the G-20 Summit: Another Blogger Breakthrough
April 2 (Huffington Post) I became the first blogger ever in world history to ask a question at a summit conference to a prime minister who had hosted the meeting. Listen to Richard here.


The strange case of Macau, the tax haven that disappeared
April 3 (BBC) – A reporter digs up some of the behind-the-scenes bargaining over the OECD list.

G20 declares door shut on tax havens
April 2 (Guardian) - The most dramatic crackdown on tax havens was unveiled by G20 leaders at their summit today, paving the way for the naming and shaming of countries that fail to comply with internationally agreed standards. (TJN notes progress, but is rather less enthusiastic.)

Petition on monetary reform
March (No 10) - We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to Include international and national monetary reform on the G20 agenda for 2nd April. More details here. http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/G20moneyreform/#detail

http://www.lecourrier.ch/special/promotion/aab5f2ae3772a2e/LeCourrier_2009-03-30.pdf

US and Gibraltar agree to share tax information
April 1 (Guardian) - The clampdown on tax havens around the world gathered pace today when the US government and Gibraltar announced an agreement to exchange information on tax matters.

Liechtenstein tax deal edges closer as France begins fraud inquiry
April 1 (Guardian) - The crackdown on tax havens across the world intensified last night as Britain's most senior taxman flew to Switzerland to negotiate a deal that the Treasury hopes will force British companies to stop using bank accounts in Liechtenstein to avoid paying tax.

Michelin, Total, Adidas face money-laundering probe
March 31 (France24) - Tyre maker Michelin, oil firm Total and sports firm Adidas are suspected of evading French taxes via accounts in the Alpine principality of Liechtenstein, French prosecutors said on Tuesday.

“G192” ONLY CREDIBLE BODY TO BRING ABOUT REFORMS
March 6 (SUNS) - The "G192", namely, the entire membership of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), is the only credible group to bring about the necessary reforms of the 21st century, in the context of the current global economic and financial crises, the President of the Assembly declared Thursday.

France Hints at Leaving G-20 Summit
MARCH 31 (Reuters) - French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said President Nicolas Sarkozy would walk away from this week's Group of 20 meeting in London if no progress was made on global financial regulations.

Brown backs new global assault on tax avoidance
April 5 (Observer) - Gordon Brown this weekend increased the likelihood of a co-ordinated global clampdown on aggressive tax avoidance by opening a new front against secret offshore financial centres.



IRS should do company audits with other countries: Shulman
June 3 (Sydney M Herald) - US Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Douglas Shulman said the agency should audit multinational corporations jointly with other countries as part of a growing coordination in enforcing tax laws. Read his full speech here. http://taxprof.typepad.com/files/oecd.pdf

HMRC Releases Details Of New UK Offshore Amnesty, by Robert Lee, Tax-News.com, London
June 5 (Tax-News) - UK’s HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has announced initial details of the new offshore bank account disclosure scheme, which is due to commence in the autumn of 2009.

The corporate death-grip on reform
June 4 (Guardian) Two years after the banking crisis hit the newspaper headlines, there is still no sign of any radical reforms. One of the reasons for this is the capture of the state by corporate interests. By Prem Sikka.

Give the people their resource wealth
June 4 (FT) One solution to the “Resource Curse” has been dismissed in policy circles. It needs to become part of the policy toolkit, so that if a politician or country wants it, help is at hand. By TJN’s Nicholas Shaxson.

Luxembourg signs tax deal with France to improve image
June 3 (Reuters) Luxembourg Budget Minister Luc Frieden said he hoped the Grand Duchy would have signed 15 double-taxation deals by the end of 2009 that meet OECD standards on information exchange.

Hedge funds may quit UK over draft EU laws
June 3 (FT) Some of Britain’s biggest hedge funds have warned the UK Treasury they will be forced to leave the country unless a draft European directive is radically changed. Let them leave.

Time Warner's Well-Timed Tax Break
June 2 (Washington Post) Time Warner's pending deal to unburden itself of AOL by dumping the ailing firm onto its shareholders is one of those times, thanks to an insight I got from tax guru Bob Willens of Robert Willens LLC.

Tax officials on trail of wealth hidden offshore
May 30 (FT`) A worldwide crackdown on avoidance and evasion by the wealthy was launched yesterday by more than 30 countries, which promised a joint pursuit of individuals hiding money offshore.

Chip Maker Xilinx Loses Tax Ruling
May 29 (WSJournal) - "It's the most important transfer-pricing decision in this country in 20 years," said H. David Rosenbloom, an international tax attorney at Caplin & Drysdale. "It goes to the question of how broad the IRS's power is."

The Chicago School is eclipsed
May 29 (The Week) Richard Posner, leader of the Chicago School of Economics and Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals judge, uses his new book, “A Failure of Capitalism,” to try to rescue the Chicago School’s foundational assumption that the economy behaves as if all economic agents and actors are rational, far-sighted calculators.

Luxembourg, U.S. agree to exchange bank information for tax purposes
20 May (OECD.ORG) Luxembourg has signed an agreement for the exchange of bank information on request in all tax matters with the U.S., marking a major step forward in international efforts to counter tax evasion. This is the first agreement by Luxembourg with an OECD country which meets the OECD standard for information exchange.

UN-HABITAT gives Somaliland tax collector a big boost
April 3 (UN Habitat) A Geographic Information System (GIS) established in Hargeisa Municipality with technical assistance from UN-HABITAT has helped to increase annual property tax revenues by 248 percent, from USD169,062 in 2005 to USD588,754 in 2008.

Jersey To Introduce Depositors' Compensation Scheme
June 4 (Tax-News) - The Minister for Economic Development has lodged draft legislation for the introduction of a Depositors' Compensation Scheme in Jersey. The draft Banking Business (Depositors Compensation) (Jersey) Regulations 200- will be debated by the States on July 14, 2009.

Briefing paper: Tax Information Exchange Agreements
June 1 (TJN) Following a draft briefing paper last month, and a series of blogs about the relative merits of automatic exchange of tax information between jurisdictions, versus the far weaker "on request" exchange of information, we now publish our briefing paper on the subject.

OECD Forum in Paris - helping taxpayers fight abuse?
June 1 (TJN) - The OECD forum on tax administration met in Paris on May 28-29. We’ve criticised the OECD much recently – but we are very pleased at what has emerged in this Forum.

Britain's skewed middle
June 1 (TJN) The Trades Union Congress (TUC) in Britain published a detailed pamphlet last week looking at the British middle classes, and find that the media has been living under something of an illusion - the middle classes appear to have been doing better than they actually have been.

The Netherlands as a tax haven - a misunderstanding?
May 25 (TJN) – A White House press briefing fingered the Netherlands as a tax haven. The next day, after lobbying, the sentence was removed, and the Dutch embassy said it was a “misunderstanding.” SOMO went to see whether it really was a misunderstanding.

Netherlands wants more automatic information exchange
Another indication of more actors keen to push forwards with multilateral and automatic exchange of information.

Britain's Conservative Party sets out its stall
June 1 (TJN) We have long lamented the fact that Britain's Labour Party has been captured by interests in Britain's financial and offshore sectors, and that they have failed to crack down where it is needed. Britain's Conservative party, however, are more vociferous and constant supporters of the offshore system.

Critics Call Delaware a Tax Haven
May 29 (NY Times) - Critics of the arrangement in Delaware say it cheats state governments out of money. Delaware, these people say, has created its own onshore Cayman Islands. Even the Swiss are complaining, claiming that the United States is letting this homegrown haven flourish even as the I.R.S. pursues offshore shelters. As we’ve always said.

OECD Removes Last Three Jurisdictions From Blacklist
June 1 (Tax-News) - The Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has announced that Andorra, Liechtenstein and Monaco have been removed from its list of ‘uncooperative tax havens’.

A Shelter That Could Start a Stampede
May 30 (NY Times) - “If the I.R.S. countenances this strategy, which involves the use of borrowed stock to achieve affiliation, a fertile new area of tax avoidance will become available,” Mr. Willens wrote, “and tax advisers can be expected to enthusiastically recommend it to their clients.”

Maryland: Millionaires on the Move?
May (ITEP) - Officials say the number of millionaires filing tax returns in the state had dropped significantly.  News outlets, such as the Washington Examiner, subsequently seized on his assertion, arguing that tax changes enacted over the past two years were driving the affluent out of the Free State.  This latest release from ITEP demonstrates, Maryland's millionaires may be moving, but their likely destination is a lower income group.


Premier League to investigate Portsmouth's new investors
May 28 (Guardian) - The UK Premier League is preparing to use Sulaiman Al-Fahim's takeover of Portsmouth as a test case for its strengthened fit-and-proper-persons rule that is due for introduction next week. A source with knowledge of the deal said Al-Fahim is the owner of the fund but that it had numerous investors who had pledged their money on condition of anonymity.

SARS given right to slap taxpayers with fat penalties
May (Taxationweb) - South African Revenue Services (SARS) is homing in on such indiscretions, it has already uncovered 400,000 South Africans who were not paying taxes after employers submitted their PAYE data to SARS.

The Myth of a Corporate Tax Exodus
May 27 (Reuters) - When the Obama administration unveiled its plan to crack down on corporations using tax havens to avoid paying their full share of tax, there was a corporate outcry, especially loud in the business media.

Reagan Did It
May 31 (Krugman/NY Times) - For the more one looks into the origins of the current disaster, the clearer it becomes that the key wrong turn — the turn that made crisis inevitable — took place in the early 1980s, during the Reagan years.

Panama wrong choice for Obama's first trade deal
May (Seattle Times) - President Obama should steer clear of the Bush administration-negotiated trade deal with Panama, write guest columnists David Batker and Stephanie Celt.

Lawful does not mean appropriate
May 30 (Tax Research) - Bill Cash MP was quoted in yesterday’s Telegraph saying: “What is lawful is appropriate.” Wrong Bill. Apartheid was legal. Slavery was legal. I could go on. Big mistake Bill, confusing ethics with legality. Tax avoiders take note.

Accenture to Shift Incorporation to Ireland
May 27 (Reuters) - Technology outsourcing and consulting firm Accenture Ltd plans to change its place of incorporation to Ireland from Bermuda, following an exodus of large multinational companies to Europe as the U.S. government plans to tighten tax rules.

NC appeals court upholds tax bill for Wal-Mart
May 19 (AP) - The state Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday against Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and its efforts to get a $33 million tax refund, upholding a trial judge's ruling that found a complex corporate structure was used primarily to avoid corporate income taxes.

A Fight to Protect Americans From British Libel Law
May 24 (NYT) - The American Civil Liberties Union may not often see eye to eye with the American Center for Democracy, a research group with neoconservative credentials. But the two organizations are united on at least one thing: their distaste for British libel laws, which they say are being exploited to suppress free speech in Britain and beyond.

Swiss to Attend Berlin Talks on Tax Havens
May 25 (Reuters) - Switzerland will attend a high-level meeting on tax havens taking place in Berlin on June 23 after host Germany, the most vocal critic of Swiss bank secrecy, agreed to extend an invitation to Berne.

British banks revolt against Obama tax plan
May 24 (Telegraph) - British banks and stockbrokers may refuse to take on American clients if new international tax proposals outlined by President Obama are passed.

L’accord Luxembourg – Etats-Unis est jugé positif pour la Suisse
May 26 (Le Temps) - Un traité similaire entre Berne et Washington renforcerait la place helvétique

EIB Reviews Lending To Offshore Jurisdictions,
June 1 (Tax-News)- The EIB said on May 27 that its board of directors “took the initiative to encourage a review” of lending policies to certain countries following the conclusions of the G20 summit of world leaders in London in April 2009 regarding offshore financial centres.

GlaxoSmithKline, IRS Tangle in Tax Court
May (WSJ) GlaxoSmithKline PLC is embroiled in a potential $1.9 billion court battle with the Internal Revenue Service, which says the drug maker owes back taxes, interest and penalties stemming from tax deductions Glaxo generated essentially by making payments to itself.

Another Win in the War Against Tax Havens: Obama Administration Puts Panama Free Trade Agreement on Hold
May 22, 2009 (The Tax Justice Digest) Assistant U.S. Trade Representative Everett Eissenstat told the Senate Finance Committee yesterday that the administration has put the Panama Free Trade Agreement on hold while the administration develops a "new framework" for trade.

Luxembourg, U.S. agree to exchange bank information for tax purposes
20-May-2009 (OECD) Luxembourg has signed an agreement for the exchange of bank information on request in all tax matters with the U.S., marking a major step forward in international efforts to counter tax evasion.

Olenicoff persiste dans sa plainte contre UBS
12/05/09 (Le temps) L’homme d’affaires américano-russe Igor Olenicoff refuse de retirer sa plainte contre UBS. Il s’est présenté comme une victime du système de fraude fiscale mis en place par la grande banque suisse alors qu’il avait auparavant plaidé coupable et accepté de payer une lourde amende.

709/05/09 (Telegraph) Face to the wills of tax haven reforms of the Prince Albert II, Monaco residents denounce a “treason”.  The measures are taken to get off the principality of the list of G20 and to protect its reputation.

2nd UPDATE: Four Convicted In Tax-Shelter Fraud Trial
07/05/09 (The Wall Street Journal) A jury convicted four current and former Ernst & Young partners of all counts Thursday in a scheme to promote fraudulent tax shelters.

Italy mulls blacklist for tax havens
05/05/09 (Reuters) Italy plans to take action against firms that invest funds in tax havens and is considering drawing up its own blacklist of such countries, Economy Minister Giulio Tremonti said on Tuesday.

Italia planea medidas,analiza lista negra para paraísos fiscales
05/05/2009 (Yahoo noticias) Italia planea tomar medidas contra las firmas que inviertan fondos en paraísos fiscales y está considerando crear su propia lista negra de tales países, dijo el martes el ministro de Economía, Giulio Tremonti.

Obama Calls for Curbs on Offshore Tax Havens
04/05/09 (NYTimes) President Obama called for curbing offshore tax havens and corporate tax breaks to collect billions of dollars more from multinational companies and wealthy individuals. The reforms would raise $210 billion over the next decade and help offset tax cuts for middle-income taxpayers.

Obama announces plan to close tax loopholes
04/05/09 (Googlenews) President Barack Obama is proposing to close tax loopholes for companies and individuals with operations or bank accounts overseas. The new enforcement initiative could yield $210 billion in tax revenue over the next decade.

European Commission Proposes Actions To Improve Governance In Tax Matters
04/05/09 (TaxNews) The European Commission has adopted a communication identifying actions that EU member states should take to promote "good governance" in the area of taxation, including more transparency, exchange of information and "fair" tax competition.

Swiss Banks: Time to end the tax haven business
May 1 (Washington Post) IN FEBRUARY, UBS, the largest private wealth manager in the world, admitted to conspiring to defraud the U.S. government.

Switzerland No Pushover On Taxes
01/05/09 (Forbes) Switzerland warns negotiations to open up tax secrecy rules could be jeopardized by UBS case in the U.S.

Cayman Islands plays down 'grey' tax haven listing
01/05/09 (Jamaica Observer) The government of the Cayman Islands, a major Caribbean financial centre, said it was moving to improve its co-operation to fight tax evasion and played down its inclusion on an OECD 'grey list'.

UBS Asks to Keep Account Holders a Secret
01/05/09 (PR-Inside) Swiss banking giant UBS AG said turning over to the IRS the names of thousands of 52,000 Americans account holders who have an estimated $14.8 billion in assets and are using Swiss bank secrecy to shield the money. UBS asked that a Miami federal judge deny the IRS petition.

Switzerland Asks U.S. Court to Halt UBS Tax Case
30/04/09 (NYTimes) Switzerland is opposed to a U.S. court who wants to oblige the UBS bank to reveal the identity of the American owners of bank accounts by putting forward the fact that Switzerland's laws prohibit  the release of confidential information to foreign governments.

European Parliament resolution on G20 conclusions
April 30 (EURODAD) On April 24 the European Parliament approved a resolution on the conclusions of the April 2 G20 London summit. While the text generally welcomes all the outcomes of the summit, there are a few issues on which the European Parliament calls for stronger measures at the European and global levels.

BJP links Quattrocchi issue with money in tax havens
April 30 (Business Standard) Giving a fresh twist to the controversy over Ottavio Quattrocchi being dropped from the global list of the wanted fugitives, the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today alleged that the Italian businessman was being helped to access his money stashed away in tax havens.

Indian politicians pledge to recover tax haven ‘loot’
April 30 (Times Onlines) Illegal transfers of billions of dollars from India to Western tax havens have become a big issue after two weeks of campaigning in the country’s general election.

The Big Question: What is the extent of European royalty, and does it still have a role?
April 29 (Independent) The Liechtenstein dynasty runs a bank which the US Senate's subcommittee on tax havens has described as "an aider and abettor to clients trying to evade taxes, dodge creditors or defy court orders". The son of the former King of Italy has been working as a hedge fund manager in Geneva.

UPDATE 2-US offshore tax bill in coming weeks-aide
April 29 (Reuters) The chairman of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee plans to introduce legislation in the coming weeks to give U.S. tax collectors more tools to police offshore tax evasion, an aide to the senator said on Wednesday.

Tax haven crackdown to aid small nations
April 29 (Business Inquirer) A crackdown on tax havens and cross-border tax evasion will help developing countries raise more revenues to pay for much-needed schools, roads and hospitals, according to a statement issued by the OECD.

Swiss step up row with OECD over tax 'grey list'
April 29 (LSE) The Swiss government has stepped up its row with the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development over the country's place on a 'grey list' of states that have agreed to OECD tax standards but have yet to comply fully.

UPDATE 2-US offshore tax bill in coming weeks-aide
29/04/09 (Reuters) The chairman of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee plans to introduce legislation in the coming weeks to give U.S. tax collectors more tools to police offshore tax evasion. The draft bill seeks to deter offshore tax havens by , among others, increasing reporting requirements to the Internal Revenue Service for entities transferring funds offshore.

OECD: Bermuda didn't do enough
April 28 (Royal Gazette) Bermuda was "grey-listed" by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)because of its lack of follow-up action since the Island's commitment to international tax transparency standards nine years ago.

EU to renegotiate anti-fraud deal with Switzerland
April 28 (Guardian) The European Union will seek to renegotiate its anti-fraud agreements with Switzerland and four small countries to include in them sharing tax information, the EU's taxation chief said on Tuesday.

I.R.S. to Pursue Foreign Banks Assisting Tax Evasion
27/04/09 (NYTimes) The Internal Revenue Service is preparing to pursue foreign banks suspected of facilitating tax evasion by wealthy Americans, as the Swiss banking giant UBS. 

TJN writes to the G20
Apr 30 (TJN) - The following letter has gone by post to the members of the G20 working group focusing on secrecy jurisdictions, the list of members of the working group working on the G20 final report, and all the expert advisers of those groups. It focuses exclusively on the need for automatic information exchange, a much more effective deterrent than the "by request" approach adopted by the OECD.

On tax, wealth and waste
Apr 30 (TJN) - From a letter in the Financial Times, entitled Don’t tell me the private sector hasn’t wasted my money. TJN doesn't generally take positions on tax rates like this, but this letter is worth reproducing in full:

Bankers, still Beltway royalty
May 1 (TJN) – America’s bankers, far from being the “political equivalent of lepers in the halls of power these days…are still being treated as Beltway royalty by those in Congress.”

Illicit flows: the OECD's swaggering myopia
May 1 (TJN) - The OECD has now responded to Raymond Baker's excellent comment article in the Financial Times, with a swaggering letter seeming to add little to the debate other than to question his impertinence (though not his data).

The IMF and the Tax Consensus - new evidence
May 1 (TJN) - A major new report on the IMF's tax policies has just emerged from Christian Aid, and finds “strong empirical support for the claim that the IMF has promoted the ‘tax consensus’ – often in spite of evidence that the implied policies are failing to meet their objectives.”

UBS case: Switzerland outlines its position
May 1 (TJN) - Switzerland's official position on the UBS case has been published this morning on the official website. It, along with UBS itself, seems to be playing hardball.

Just say No to the Swiss president
May 4 (TJN) - Will Rogers once quipped that income tax has made more liars out of the American people than golf has. We now know that Switzerland played a major part in this process.

 Obama announces plan to close tax loopholes
May 4 (AP) — President Barack Obama is proposing to close tax loopholes for companies and individuals with operations or bank accounts overseas.

Obama Calls for New Curbs on Offshore Tax Havens
May 4 (NYT) — President Obama presented a far-reaching set of proposals on Monday that are aimed at the tax benefits enjoyed by companies and wealthy individuals harboring cash in offshore accounts.

European Commission Proposes Actions To Improve Governance In Tax Matters
May 1 (Tax News) The European Commission has adopted a communication identifying actions that EU member states should take to promote "good governance" in the area of taxation, including more transparency, exchange of information and "fair" tax competition.

Cayman Islands plays down 'grey' tax haven listing
May 1 (Jamaica Observer) The government of the Cayman Islands, a major Caribbean financial centre, said it was moving to improve its co-operation to fight tax evasion and played down its inclusion on an OECD 'grey list'.

Switzerland No Pushover On Taxes
May 1 (Forbes)Switzerland warns negotations to open up tax secrecy rules could be jeopardized by UBS case in the U.S.

Swiss step up row with OECD over tax 'grey list'
May 1 (LSE) The Swiss government has stepped up its row with the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development over the country's place on a 'grey list' of states that have agreed to OECD tax standards but have yet to comply fully.

Swiss Banks: Time to end the tax haven business
May 1 (Washington Post) IN FEBRUARY, UBS, the largest private wealth manager in the world, admitted to conspiring to defraud the U.S. government.

European Parliament resolution on G20 conclusions
April 30 (EURODAD) On April 24 the European Parliament approved a resolution on the conclusions of the April 2 G20 London summit. While the text generally welcomes all the outcomes of the summit, there are a few issues on which the European Parliament calls for stronger measures at the European and global levels.

BJP links Quattrocchi issue with money in tax havens
April 30 (Business Standard) Giving a fresh twist to the controversy over Ottavio Quattrocchi being dropped from the global list of the wanted fugitives, the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today alleged that the Italian businessman was being helped to access his money stashed away in tax havens.

Indian politicians pledge to recover tax haven ‘loot’
April 30 (Times Onlines) Illegal transfers of billions of dollars from India to Western tax havens have become a big issue after two weeks of campaigning in the country’s general election.

The Big Question: What is the extent of European royalty, and does it still have a role?
April 29 (Independent) The Liechtenstein dynasty runs a bank which the US Senate's subcommittee on tax havens has described as "an aider and abettor to clients trying to evade taxes, dodge creditors or defy court orders". The son of the former King of Italy has been working as a hedge fund manager in Geneva.

UPDATE 2-US offshore tax bill in coming weeks-aide
April 29 (Reuters) The chairman of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee plans to introduce legislation in the coming weeks to give U.S. tax collectors more tools to police offshore tax evasion, an aide to the senator said on Wednesday.

Tax haven crackdown to aid small nations
April 29 (Business Inquirer) A crackdown on tax havens and cross-border tax evasion will help developing countries raise more revenues to pay for much-needed schools, roads and hospitals, according to a statement issued by the OECD.

OECD: Bermuda didn't do enough
April 28 (Royal Gazette) Bermuda was "grey-listed" by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)because of its lack of follow-up action since the Island's commitment to international tax transparency standards nine years ago.

EU to renegotiate anti-fraud deal with Switzerland
April 28 (Guardian) The European Union will seek to renegotiate its anti-fraud agreements with Switzerland and four small countries to include in them sharing tax information, the EU's taxation chief said on Tuesday.

Tax haven seeks taxpayer compliance
April 30 (TJN) - Bahamas is running short of money. There is outrage that non-compliance by local taxpayers is at the root of the problem. They might take a moment to consider the revenue costs that offshore centres like the Bahamas force on other developing countries.

Inequality - in shocking pictures
Apr 27 (TJN) – At the LEAP conference in London over the weekend, Richard Wilkinson presented data that amounted to the starkest demonstration we have ever seen on the perils of inequality.

Grimy Panama: new report
April 30 (TJN) - "President Obama's ability to deliver on his campaign commitments to close tax loopholes that promote offshoring and re-regulate the financial sector would be dealt a sharp blow if the U.S.-Panama Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is passed."

Britain's budget doublethink
April 27 (TJN) - Much attention has been paid recently to the new 50p tax rate in Britain's budget, raising taxes on high earners. Yet in the same budget, something completely different emerged.

Report from the Offshore Alert conference
April 29 (TJN) - Our colleague Sarah Lewis at TJN-USA has been blogging from the 7th Annual Offshore Alert Financial Due Diligence Conference in Miami. We are delighted to host her as part of our "Guest Blogger"

New EU proposals on tax and transparency
April 28 (TJN) - From the EU: "The European Commission today has adopted a Communication identifying actions that EU Member States should take to promote "good governance" in the tax area (i.e. more transparency, exchange of information and fair tax competition). The

Climate of fear in British tax haven
April 27 (TJN) - Take a look at these remarkable words published in Britain's Hansard (official parliamentary publication) last Thursday, concerning a British Foreign Affairs Committee inquiry into Britain's Overseas Territories, notably looking at the Turks & Caicos islands.

Gordon Brown's indecent love affair
April 27 (TJN) - John Kay says the British government "conducted an indecent love affair with the financial services industry."

TJN and the round-the-world cyclist
Apr 27 (TJN) - Julian Sayarer who will be setting off from Rouen Cathedral in France on 10th June 2009 in an attempt to set a new world record for circumnavigating the world while drawing attention to a number of small organizations which he feels are tackling the core issues.

Gordon Brown's indecent love affair
Apr 27 (TJN) - John Kay has been writing another of his insightful comments in the Financial Times. It is a reminder of something we already know - the government was hopelessly in bed with the bankers - and that it still seems to be true, despite the occasional sign of real fresh thinking.

Climate of fear in British tax haven
Apr 27 (TJN) - Take a look at these remarkable words published in Britain's Hansard (official parliamentary publication) last Thursday, concerning a British Foreign Affairs Committee inquiry into Britain's Overseas Territories, notably looking at the Turks & Caicos islands. Britain has a lot of control and influence over its tax havens, and it could and should act.

Britain's budget - tax sea change
Apr 24 (TJN) - A truly important element has emerged in Britain's budget, and it is not just the 50% tax rate on the seriously rich.

Raymond Baker of Global Financial Integrity in the FT
Apr 24 (TJN) - Our good friend Raymond Baker at Global Financial Integrity in Washington has a wonderful comment piece in the FT today. It starts by mentioning the extraordinary political impact his data has been having in India, which we have already noted too.

Economic crisis - an end in sight?
Apr 24 (TJN) - Many people seem to think that the world economy, after a bad period, may have put the worst behind it. The cover of this week's Economist Magazine vividly illustrates the alternative opinion.

Jon Stewart demolishes Jim Kramer
Apr 23 (TJN) - We missed this when it came out last month. This astonishing demolition by Jon Stewart of CNBC's Jim Kramer is unforgettable. More on the failures of financial journalists here, with additional reasons here.

Foot: A safe pair of hands
Apr 22 (TJN) – Michael Foot’s Progress Report seems to be another of those reviews that toe the party line, in this case on tax havens.

Dismembering a tax haven
Apr 22 (TJN) - Some French protesters dismantling a tax haven, in front of the Stock Exchange in Paris, ahead of the G20 summit. (OK, we're a bit late . . . )

On tax-free charities
Apr 22 (TJN) - A Cayman news organisation, bridling at the attack on offshore financial centres, recently accused charitable organizations of hypocrisy in the area of tax evasion.


EU unveils hedge fund regulation
April 29 (FT) - Angry criticism from all sides greeted EU proposals to regulate “alternative investment funds” Wednesday, with private equity and hedge fund managers claiming they would profoundly damage their industry and some politicians saying the proposed rules are too lax.

Firms Brace For Details Of Obama Tax Plan On Foreign Profits
April 29 (Dow Jones) - U.S. business groups are bracing for the release, slated for next week, of the Obama Administration's proposals to tax overseas profits. Treasury officials now believe repealing deferral would generate significantly more than that, business sources say, perhaps as much as $250 billion.

UK Revenue to pour quarter of its £4bn budget into battle against tax evasion
April 28 (Times) - HM Revenue & Customs is to spend £1 billion on enforcement and compliance this year to cut tax avoidance and evasion by £2.4 billion, Britain's most senior tax collector said last night.

Developing countries to benefit from tax haven crackdown
April 27 (Economy News) OECD head says a crackdown on tax havens and cross-border tax evasion will help developing countries to raise more revenues.

Switzerland offers US possible deal on tax
April 27 (The Times) Switzerland has offered to sign up to a new tax accord with the US if it drops a tax evasion case against UBS, the Swiss bank.

PM pledges to seek return of $100bn stashed abroad
April 27 (Guardian) India's prime minister, Manmohan Singh, has made an election campaign pledge to claw back more than $100bn (£68bn) of cash stashed abroad by the country's wealthy.

Swiss finance minister asks U.S. to drop tax cases with dual-tax pact: report
April 26 (Market Watch) Switzerland asked U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner for criminal cases involving Swiss bank UBS AG

European Lawmakers Urge End To EU Tax Havens By 2014
April 24 (Nasdaq) Lawmakers at the European Parliament called Friday on all European Union governments to give up banking secrecy from 2014 at the latest.

IRS Wins a Battle in the War on Tax Havens
April 24 (CTJ) Tax Day marked a small victory for law-abiding taxpayers who are tired of subsidizing those who evade their taxes. On April 15, the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado granted the government permission to serve a "John Doe" summons on First Data Corporation.

More offshore tax probes in works: NY's Morgenthau
April 24 (Reuters) New York investigators have launched more probes like the $350 million money laundering case against Lloyds and are also working to uncover wrongdoing in offshore tax havens.

Arbitration not litigation will solve transfer pricing wrangles
April 23 (Accountancy Age) The highly complex and divisive issue of transfer pricing the practice of pricing or handing goods or assets from one part of a company to another and the need for the transaction to be priced at arms length.
http://steuergerechtigkeit.blogspot.com/2009/04/tjn-direktor-auf-alpentour-osterreich.html

German cabinet backs bill to fight tax dodging
April 22 (Guardian) German Chancellor Angela Merkel's cabinet has approved a draft law that would give the government additional powers to oversee companies and individuals that do business in tax havens

New measures to curb evasion
April 22 ( FT) Britons who fail to report the full extent of their earnings are to be “named and shamed” by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) as another round of measures to curb tax evasion begins.

Tax Haven Questions Could Trip Up Panama Trade Pact
April 22 (WSJ) Questions about Panama's status as a tax haven have raised a new hurdle for U.S. approval of a free trade deal between the U.S. and the Central American nation.

Austria a top tax oasis, says expert
April 17 (Weiner Zeitung) Head of Tax Justice Network John Christensen included Austria along with the UK, Switzerland, Luxembourg and the US state of Delaware as among the top ten tax havens in the world

Mexico's Dirty Cash
April 20 (ISN) As much as US$25 billion in drug money is laundered in Mexico annually, and some experts say the Mexican financial system is set up to facilitate money laundering rather than impede it, writes Samuel Logan for ISN Security Watch.

Philippines to revise bank secrecy laws
April 20 (FT.com) The Philippines is preparing to revise its bank secrecy laws and strengthen the hand of anti-money laundering investigators following a brief appearance on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s tax haven blacklist.

German cabinet to discuss plan to fight tax dodgers
April 20 (Reuters) The German cabinet will discuss a draft law to fight tax dodging at its meeting on Wednesday, finally addressing the issue after numerous delays, a government spokesman said on Monday.

Guyana Discusses Offshore Financial Centre Proposals
April 20 (Tax-news) - Guyana’s Minister of Finance, Ashni Singh (pictured), underlined his support to facilitate the development of Guyana as an Offshore Financial Centre at a meeting of senior Government officials and representatives of the Guyana Association of Bankers.

Greenland liked by offshore centres for tax deals
April 17 (Reuters) Offshore centres are rushing to sign data exchange tax deals with small Nordic countries such as Greenland to be taken off a "grey" list of tax havens, making a mockery of a G20 bid to clamp down on evasion, campaigners said.

Tax rates
April 17 (TJN) - . . . have been higher before. US Cartoon

Tax havens: India getting serious?
April 17 (TJN) - The Indian Central Board of Direct Taxes is investigating ways of acting against roundtripping and treaty shopping, capitalizing on concerted attempts worldwide to force greater disclosure on tax havens, Tax News reports.

India waking up - Part II
April 17 (TJN) - We have just noted the tax justice agenda starting to create ripples in India. Now we've been sent something else from TaxAnalysts - no link, unfortunately, as it's a subscription-only service. This new article, which quotes TJN, may help explain the moves by India to try and tighten up on tax havens.

The Solution to Ireland's Austerity Plan  - Make Bono Pay Tax
February 26 (CounterPunch) Cork-born British television super-star Graham Norton commented at the time: "People like Bono really annoy me. He goes to hell and back to avoid paying tax. He has a special accountant. He works out Irish tax loopholes.

Guyana Discusses Offshore Financial Centre Proposals, by Phillip Morton, Investors Offshore.com
April 20 (Tax-news) - Guyana’s Minister of Finance, Ashni Singh (pictured), underlined his support to facilitate the development of Guyana as an Offshore Financial Centre at a meeting of senior Government officials and representatives of the Guyana Association of Bankers. 

Guernsey press on Brown: playground bully
April 15 (TJN) – Jersey pretends not to care about the new UK letters. Guernsey’s press responds by calling Brown the “playground bully.”

A reminder: exchange of information can work
April 15 (TJN) - Accountancy magazine quotes a senior chartered accountant as saying that the cost of filtering through information obtained in the proposed global crackdown on tax havens may outweigh the revenue raised: "There’s so much data they don’t know what to do with it. How will HMRC deal with it?" This is nonsense, as Richard Murphy points out.

Over 70% support tax crackdown on wealthy
April 14 (TJN) - The British organisation Compass has published new research: "The results reveal that 77% indicated they agree that the government should do everything it can to close this £15 billion gap lost through personal tax avoidance."

OECD vs EU
April 16 (TJN) - Richard HayHard line European countries are successfully pursuing a competing information exchange philosophy - comprehensive and automatic information exchange - in the recently adopted Savings Tax Directive. If the OECD plan sinks, the EU philosophy will gain ground as the accepted international standard for tax information exchange."

Indian Tax Authority Considers Ways To Reduce Use Of Tax Havens
April 17 (Tax News) - The Indian Central Board of Direct Taxes is investigating ways of acting against roundtripping and treaty shopping, capitalizing on concerted attempts worldwide to force greater disclosure on tax havens. India is examining its own financial relationships with Mauritius and Cyprus in particular, which together account for 46% of total inward direct investment into India in the last decade. In fact Mauritius overtook the US in this period as the largest direct investor in India.

Jersey Funds Industry To Benefit From New Investment Vehicles Structures
April 16 (Tax News) - Jersey’s funds industry is set to benefit from the introduction of new legislation this year which will offer more choice for fund promoters over how they structure their investment vehicles, according to funds lawyers, Joel Hernandez and Sophie Travis at Jersey law firm, Mourant du Feu & Jeune.

Switzerland May Implement Sanctions Against OECD
April 16 (Tax News) - Switzerland may exercise its veto on various key votes within the OECD together with applying other financial sanctions aimed increasingly at Angel Gurria, the OECD Secretary-General in protest at the way he personally is applying pressure to relax bank secrecy laws and share information for tax purposes.

Switzerland Ready to Return $130m Loot
April 16 (This Day) - The Government of Switzerland yesterday said it would be willing to release the $150 million Halliburton bribe money trapped in Swiss bank accounts if Nigeria formally requests for assistance."We have discovered that $150 million of the bribe money is in Zurich.”

 ‘Eaten alive by investment bankers’
April 16 (FT) - “I witnessed trusting and naive provincial building society executives and non-executives, who had no real understanding of securitisation or structured finance or any other aspect of the workings of global capital markets, being eaten alive by cynical, rapacious and short-termist investment bankers

Financial Watchdog Lacks Bite
April 16 (FT) - Lord Turner of Ecchinswell, who became chairman of the FSA last September, has admitted that the City watchdog’s previous “light touch” form of regulation was a mistake. Lord Turner proposed restrictions on excessive bonuses and greater regulation of the “shadow banking” system, such as hedge funds and offshore tax havens.

UBS Client Pleads Guilty in Tax Case
April 14 (NYT) - A wealthy UBS private banking client whose yacht company caters to Russian oligarchs, Kuwaiti royals and other global jet-setters, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to tax fraud, the second American caught in a widening investigation of the Swiss banking giant.  

Radio: William Brittain-Catlin on tax havens

Radio: TJN's John Christensen on BBC World Service Analysis

Credit Card Processor Asked for Offshore Data
April 15 (NYT) - The federal government is widening its investigation of offshore tax evasion to include services sold by the First Data Corporation, a large processor of credit card transactions.

Still No Verdict in Castroneves Tax Case
April 15 (AP) - Jury deliberations will stretch into a fifth day in the complex tax evasion case of Brazilian race car driver Helio Castroneves and two co-defendants.

Obama Vows to Reform "Monstrous" Tax Code
April 15 (Reuters) - President Barack Obama promised Americans his administration would reform the "monstrous" U.S. tax system as millions faced the dreaded annual deadline on Wednesday for filing income tax returns.

The quiet coup
The American financial industry gained political power by amassing a kind of cultural capital—a belief system. Once, perhaps, what was good for General Motors was good for the country. Over the past decade, the attitude took hold that what was good for Wall Street was good for the country. The banking-and-securities industry has become one of the top contributors to political campaigns, but at the peak of its influence, it did not have to buy favors the way, for example, the tobacco companies or military contractors might have to. Instead, it benefited from the fact that Washington insiders already believed that large financial institutions and free-flowing capital markets were crucial to America’s position in the world.

Digger: Clubs no haven for super rich
April 7 (Guardian) - The ultimate controlling party for more than a third of the 20 Premier League clubs are based offshore

Panama holds out against campaign to end era of banking secrecy
April 13 (Times Online) Faced with the growing hostility of politicians, some tax havens quickly crumbled under the pressure.

Round-tripped FDI from tax havens under OECD review
April 13 (Financial Express) Days after G-20 nations agreed to crack down on tax havens where nearly $11 trillion is parked, the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has begun a review of India’s foreign direct investment (FDI) policy to suggest measures that will ease sector-specific ceilings as well as look into issues of round tripping.

Lord Ashcroft’s Belize Bank – a supplier of tax evasion services?
April 13 (Tax Research) The Belize Bank is owned by Lord Ashcroft – one of the biggest funders of the UK’s Conservative Party.

Swiss bank 'to close US customer accounts'
April 13 (Guardian) The Swiss bank Credit Suisse is edging towards closing the accounts of thousands of American customers as tax authorities in Washington step up a campaign against offshore banking secrecy.

It is time to put finance back in its box
April 13 (Financial Times) Nicolas Sarkozy arrived at the Group of 20 summit having said: “The all-powerful market that is always right is finished.” The French president left it proclaiming “a page has been turned” on the Anglo-Saxon financial model.

Welcome to tax-dodge city, USA
April 10 (Guardian) It lacks the palm-fringed sandy beaches of the Cayman Islands. Or the craggy Alpine peaks of Liechtenstein. But should the second smallest US state, Delaware, go on a blacklist of globally notorious tax havens?

New CTJ Fact Sheet: Do the Rich Really Pay Over a Third of Their Income in Federal Income Taxes?
April 10 (Tax Justice Digest) As we approach April 15th, one complaint we often hear is that Americans who work hard and become successful have to pay over a third of their income in federal income taxes. But a recent report from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) shows that this is not remotely true.

The G20’s plan to tackle banking secrecy is a small step in the right direction, says Prem Sikka
April 9 (Tribune Magazine) TAX avoidance has undermined the tax base of many countries

Shackelford Presents Corporate Income Tax Burdens at Home and Abroad Today at Northwestern
April 9 (Tax Prof Blog) Douglas Shackelford (University of North Carolina, Kenan-Flagler Business School) presents Corporate Income Tax Burdens at Home and Abroad (with Kevin Markle (University of North Carolina, Kenan-Flagler Business School) at Northwestern today as part of its Advanced Topics in Taxation Series organized by Tom Brennan and Charlotte Crane.  

Distributional Consequences of Converting the Property Tax to a Land Value Tax
April 8 (Tax Prof Blog) John H Bowman and Michael E Bell have published Distributional Consequences of Converting the Property Tax to a Land Value Tax: Replication and Extension of England and Zhao

Cabinet seeks greater say on tax haven laws
April 8 (Swiss Info) Switzerland is seeking to boost international cooperation to avoid a repeat of sanction threats against its financial centre.

Is the sun setting on Tax Dodgers?
Comment article from our friends at GFI.

Come to Sunny Jersey!
April 8 (Senator Stuart Syvret Blog) Just a brief post as I am doing yet more legal work - and as I've commented elsewhere, the police raid and search of my home on on Monday was - most definitely -unlawful.

Six tax breaks you've probably never heard of.
April 7 (Newsweek) Ah, the wild, wacky tax code—you gotta love it. With more than 20,000 pages of rules and regulations, there's something in it for everyone. And we mean everyone.

From the House That Ruth Built to the House the IRS Built
April 6 (Tax Foundation) The stadium's construction costs have been publicly subsidized in the form of $942 million in tax-exempt bonds issued by New York City.[3] Seeking tax-free status for the bonds to ensure a lower interest rate, New York structured the deal to ensure it didn't run afoul of a federal tax code provision which requires that such bonds not be "private activity bonds."
 

 

Where next on tax after the London Summit?
Apr 8 (TJN) – Two linked events on tax evasion and avoidance in a new era.

Two quotes - pollution and prediction
Apr 8 (TJN) - A reminder of our quotations page. Two quotations for the day.

Tax Analysts Launches Tax.com
Apr 8 (TJN) - TaxAnalysts is a well-respected American tax publication, hosting a variety of opinions, only some of which TJN would agree with. It is a subscription-only service. Now TaxProf informs us that Tax Analysts has launched Tax,com, self-described as "The Tax Daily for the Citizen Taxpayer."

BREAKING NEWS - Britain writes to its tax havens
Apr 9 (TJN) - We have just received copies of letters to the British tax havens from No. 10, Downing Street (for non-British readers, that's the British Prime Minster's office.) TJN is extremely encouraged by the content of these letters, notwithstanding the diplomatic language in which the points are made.

U.S. wealthy - how much tax do they pay?
Apr 13 (TJN) - This is a recurring theme in newspapers and the blogosphere. We note this new fact sheet from Citizens for Tax Justice in the U.S., which has crunched the numbers.

Swiss banker to EU: we knew we were tricking you
Apr 13 (TJN) - Konrad Hummler, the head of the Swiss private bankers' association, has made some fiery and anti-democratic statements in his time, but his recent comment on the EU Savings Tax Directive is particularlyeresting. 

 BREAKING NEWS - Britain writes to its tax havens
April 9 (TJN) - We have just received copies of letters to the British tax havens from No. 10, Downing Street. TJN is extremely encouraged by the content of these letters, notwithstanding the diplomatic language in which the points are made. We single out these points:

Iustitia et Pax
April 6 (TJN) - TJN's director John Christensen has been awarded the Justice and Peace – Iustitia et Pax - medal from the Vatican. Signed by Cardinal Renato Martino, President of the Pontificium Consilium de Iustitia et Pace.

Last week: a curate's egg - G20 and OECD
April 6 (TJN) - We've had a bit more time to reflect on the fast-moving events over the past week or so. In summary: the G20 TJN's agenda made useful strides, despite many disappointments. The OECD list has, by contrast, been on balance a highly negative development.

The OECD's list: we have a better idea - the FTI
April 6 (TJN) - TJN is putting together its own list, in partnership with Berlin-based Transparency International and Christian Aid, ranking jurisdictions in a new Financial Transparency Index(FTI). This will be a more objective, and more accurate, list of tax havens and what they do.

Tax Justice USA: secrecy remains intact
April 6 (TJN) - We note with concern that every element of the global shadow financial system remains intact. Comprising tax havens, secrecy jurisdictions, disguised corporations, anonymous trust accounts, fake foundations, trade mispricing techniques, and money laundering mechanisms, this structure moves cumulatively trillions of dollars across borders."

Tax Analysts Launches Tax.com
April 8 (TJN) - TaxAnalysts is a well-respected American tax publication, hosting a variety of opinions, only some of which TJN would agree with. Tax Analysts has launched Tax,com, self-described as "The Tax Daily for the Citizen Taxpayer".

Two quotes - pollution and prediction
April 8 (TJN) - Tax shelters are to democracy what pollution is to the environment
-    David Cay Johnston, in Perfectly Legal: The Covert Campaign to Rig Our Tax System

Where next on tax after the London Summit?
April 8 (TJN) - Two tax justice events, linked together. At the LSE, April 30.

Ten principles for a Black Swan-proof world
April 8 (TJN) - Ten principles from the FT today by Nassim Nicholas Taleb . Offshore operators, take note.

OECD blacklist - empty?
April 7 (TJN) - While we can give the OECD list approach credit for putting pressure to sign up to OECD standards, the speed and ease with which this has happened also gives an indication how unthreatening the OECD standards must be.

New paper on tax competition
April 7 (TJN) - A new paper is available (in English) in the publication Internationale Politik und Gesellschaft, Deadlocked European Tax Policy. Which Way Out of the Competition for the Lowest Taxes? by Christian Kellermann/Andreas Kammer.

The McIntyres give evidence
April 6 (TJN) - Two leading US tax experts, the brothers Bob McIntyre (Director of Citizens for Tax Justice) and Michael J. McIntyre (a professor of law at Wayne State University in Detroit, who recently wrote for TJN) have recently given evidence to the US House Committee on Ways and Means, looking at ways that the U.S. can reduce international tax evasion by wealthy Americans.

In praise of . . . decent people in indecent times
April 6 (TJN) - In the heat of the moment it is easy to forget how far TJN has come, and in such short time.

Eva Joly: G20, Berlin Wall and new book
April 6 (TJN) - The crime-fighting Norwegian special adviser and former Paris-based investigating magistrate Eva Joly has written a new book. "'The time of banking secrecy is over,' says the final declaration of the G20. A little presumptuous.. . . We cannot refound the global financial system with tax havens in our midst.

Infernal Machines - TJN Coimbra presentation
April 6 (TJN) - We now have a Portuguese translation of a paper that was the basis of a presentation made to the Faculty of Economics at the University of Coimbra, Portugal, on 25th March, 2009. (We noted this in our links here.)

Tax haven crackdown flushes out German tax dodgers
Apr 8 (Guardian) - Zumwinkel kicked off a bit of an avalanche," said Andreas Boehm, a lawyer based in central Berlin. "Afterwards, the number of people coming clean with us ... rose by about 400 to 500 percent. And that level has been maintained."

Tax havens just a tip of the iceberg
On Kibaki-era corruption, the three contracts entirely negotiated and signed by Narc administration officials involved transactions in the British tax havens of Jersey and Guernsey. A probe by the UK’s Serious Fraud

Swiss bank accounts freeze blow to looters
April (Eastern Standard) - The veil on the shadowy figures behind the Anglo Leasing-type contracts could soon be lifted following the decision by Swiss authorities to freeze major bank accounts held by fictitious companies. Kenya.

On information exchange
April 3 (TJN) 'TJN's Murphy on information exchange in the Guardian'

Draft briefing paper: on exchanging information
April 3 (TJN) TJN releases a public draft of a briefing paper on information exchange.

The OECD Global Forum: the list
April 3 (TJN) 'We now have a new tax haven list entitled "A Progress Report on the Jurisdictions Surveyed by the OECD Global Forum in Implementing the Internationally Agreed Tax Standard.'

Tax competition: Picking each others' pockets
April 3 (TJN) 'The Guardian today points out something that we have long said about an ideology that almost nobody in the mainstream media thought to question until now.'

G20 blogging
April 2 (TJN) 'Richard Murphy is in the thick of it today.'

A unilateralist China, tax havens' friend?
April 2 (TJN) 'We have long noted with concern China's willingness to protect tax havens close to it, notably Hong Kong and Macau, and possibly Singapore.'

Geldof gets it?
April 2 (TJN) 'The aid campaigner Bob Geldof apparently just told Richard Murphy, in front of a scrum of cameras, that it's time to close tax havens.'

UK government: tax havens contributed to the crisis
April 2 (TJN) Penny begins to drop?

G20: what we got
April 2 (TJN) 'Senior TJN advisor, director of Tax Research LLP and official G20 blogger Richard Murphy, assesses the pros and cons of the G20 party...

Sarkozy: we want a list or lists of tax havens
April 1 (TJN) “We want clear precision of what a tax haven is, not a place where you pay few taxes, but a place that doesn’t give information on the origin of funds. . . We want one or several lists of financial centers that don’t cooperate with regard to (the OECD criteria.)"

TJN Germany blog is live
March 31 (TJN) 'A rich new source of tax justice information will now be made available in German'

G20: Les gros se ménagent et s’en prennent aux petits
April 8 (e Temps) – The EU is not, or is no longer, defending its small members states against the larger ones. English web translation here.

Sévère passe d’armes entre la Suisse et l’OCDE au sujet du secret bancaire
April 8 (Le Temps) – Switzerland accuses the OECD of having been manipulated by the G20, while the OECD demands that Switzerland ratifies its exchange of information commitments rapidly. Translation.

Tax havens: any real change?
UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown declared "the start of the end" for tax havens as we know them, at the conclusion of last week's G20 summit in London. Is this the beginning of a new era of transparency in banking? TJN's Matti Kohonen debates with Pascal Saint-Amans of the OECD. English version, French version.

Tax haven crackdown not to yield much for India
 April 7, 2009,

Cayman Islands plays down "gray" tax haven listing
April 3 (Reuters) - The government of the Cayman Islands, a major Caribbean financial center, said on Friday it was moving to improve its cooperation to fight tax evasion and played down its inclusion on an OECD "gray list."

Northern Rock has £1bn branch in tax haven
April 5 (Times) - GORDON BROWN has been accused of the “height of hypocrisy” for allowing the state-owned Northern Rock to run an offshore bank in the Channel Islands while he is leading a global campaign against tax havens. Northern Rock Guernsey boasts on its website that it is a “major competitor in the offshore retail savings market”.

Swiss to discuss working with U.S. on tax
April 6 (Reuters) - Switzerland will start negotiations with the United States over its existing double-taxation treaty at the end of April, the Swiss ambassador to the United States told Swiss television late on Friday. "The first discussions already took place in Washington last week.

Officials: Nevada not tax Haven : State leaders rebut statement by premier from Luxembourg
April 6 (Las Vegas Review Journal) - The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations three years ago questioned a deputy secretary of state from Nevada, a Delaware official and others about laws that allow corporations to withhold the identity of their owners. An official told the subcommittee that the Internal Revenue Service was considering "mass audits" of Nevada corporations that do not file tax returns. An IRS official late Friday did not immediately know whether the agency conducted the audits.

The trouble with tax tricks
April 4 (Guardian) - Tax avoidance has created a mirage of large corporate profits, which has turned many a CEO into a media star and even secured knighthoods and peerages for some. Yet the profits have been manufactured by a sleight of hand. Let us get back to the basics.

Estate Tax: Senate Approves a Break for Millionaires that Leader Reid Calls "So Stunning, So Outrageous"
April 3 (CTJ) - Incredibly, 51 Senators voted to approve an amendment offered by Senators Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) and Jon Kyl (R-AZ) to cut the estate tax even more than this. The 2009 estate tax rules exempt the first

Cayman Islands signs tax information agreements with Nordic economies
April 1 (OECD) _ The Cayman Islands has signed bilateral agreements with seven Nordic economies - Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Norway and the Faroe Islands - on exchange of information for tax purposes.

Sinking assets
April 2 (The Economist) – The Economist changes its tune on tax havens. On Britain’s Crown Dependencies -Richard Murphy, who campaigns against tax havens, argues that, whatever else they may claim, these two Channel Islands rely on secrecy to attract business. If that is stripped away they are “dead in the water”, he says.

Live from the G-20 Summit: Another Blogger Breakthrough
April 2 (Huffington Post) I became the first blogger ever in world history to ask a question at a summit conference to a prime minister who had hosted the meeting. Listen to Richard here.


The strange case of Macau, the tax haven that disappeared
April 3 (BBC) – A reporter digs up some of the behind-the-scenes bargaining over the OECD list.

G20 declares door shut on tax havens
April 2 (Guardian) - The most dramatic crackdown on tax havens was unveiled by G20 leaders at their summit today, paving the way for the naming and shaming of countries that fail to comply with internationally agreed standards. (TJN notes progress, but is rather less enthusiastic.)

Petition on monetary reform
March (No 10) - We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to Include international and national monetary reform on the G20 agenda for 2nd April. More details here. http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/G20moneyreform/#detail

http://www.lecourrier.ch/special/promotion/aab5f2ae3772a2e/LeCourrier_2009-03-30.pdf

US and Gibraltar agree to share tax information
April 1 (Guardian) - The clampdown on tax havens around the world gathered pace today when the US government and Gibraltar announced an agreement to exchange information on tax matters.

Liechtenstein tax deal edges closer as France begins fraud inquiry
April 1 (Guardian) - The crackdown on tax havens across the world intensified last night as Britain's most senior taxman flew to Switzerland to negotiate a deal that the Treasury hopes will force British companies to stop using bank accounts in Liechtenstein to avoid paying tax.

Michelin, Total, Adidas face money-laundering probe
March 31 (France24) - Tyre maker Michelin, oil firm Total and sports firm Adidas are suspected of evading French taxes via accounts in the Alpine principality of Liechtenstein, French prosecutors said on Tuesday.

“G192” ONLY CREDIBLE BODY TO BRING ABOUT REFORMS
March 6 (SUNS) - The "G192", namely, the entire membership of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), is the only credible group to bring about the necessary reforms of the 21st century, in the context of the current global economic and financial crises, the President of the Assembly declared Thursday.

France Hints at Leaving G-20 Summit
MARCH 31 (Reuters) - French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said President Nicolas Sarkozy would walk away from this week's Group of 20 meeting in London if no progress was made on global financial regulations.

Brown backs new global assault on tax avoidance
April 5 (Observer) - Gordon Brown this weekend increased the likelihood of a co-ordinated global clampdown on aggressive tax avoidance by opening a new front against secret offshore financial centres.


Tax haven seeks taxpayer compliance
April 30 (TJN) - Bahamas is running short of money. There is outrage that non-compliance by local taxpayers is at the root of the problem. They might take a moment to consider the revenue costs that offshore centres like the Bahamas force on other developing countries.

Inequality - in shocking pictures
Apr 27 (TJN) – At the LEAP conference in London over the weekend, Richard Wilkinson presented data that amounted to the starkest demonstration we have ever seen on the perils of inequality.

Grimy Panama: new report
April 30 (TJN) - "President Obama's ability to deliver on his campaign commitments to close tax loopholes that promote offshoring and re-regulate the financial sector would be dealt a sharp blow if the U.S.-Panama Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is passed."

Britain's budget doublethink
April 27 (TJN) - Much attention has been paid recently to the new 50p tax rate in Britain's budget, raising taxes on high earners. Yet in the same budget, something completely different emerged.

Report from the Offshore Alert conference
April 29 (TJN) - Our colleague Sarah Lewis at TJN-USA has been blogging from the 7th Annual Offshore Alert Financial Due Diligence Conference in Miami. We are delighted to host her as part of our "Guest Blogger"

New EU proposals on tax and transparency
April 28 (TJN) - From the EU: "The European Commission today has adopted a Communication identifying actions that EU Member States should take to promote "good governance" in the tax area (i.e. more transparency, exchange of information and fair tax competition). The

Climate of fear in British tax haven
April 27 (TJN) - Take a look at these remarkable words published in Britain's Hansard (official parliamentary publication) last Thursday, concerning a British Foreign Affairs Committee inquiry into Britain's Overseas Territories, notably looking at the Turks & Caicos islands.

Gordon Brown's indecent love affair
April 27 (TJN) - John Kay says the British government "conducted an indecent love affair with the financial services industry."

TJN and the round-the-world cyclist
Apr 27 (TJN) - Julian Sayarer who will be setting off from Rouen Cathedral in France on 10th June 2009 in an attempt to set a new world record for circumnavigating the world while drawing attention to a number of small organizations which he feels are tackling the core issues.

Gordon Brown's indecent love affair
Apr 27 (TJN) - John Kay has been writing another of his insightful comments in the Financial Times. It is a reminder of something we already know - the government was hopelessly in bed with the bankers - and that it still seems to be true, despite the occasional sign of real fresh thinking.

Climate of fear in British tax haven
Apr 27 (TJN) - Take a look at these remarkable words published in Britain's Hansard (official parliamentary publication) last Thursday, concerning a British Foreign Affairs Committee inquiry into Britain's Overseas Territories, notably looking at the Turks & Caicos islands. Britain has a lot of control and influence over its tax havens, and it could and should act.

Britain's budget - tax sea change
Apr 24 (TJN) - A truly important element has emerged in Britain's budget, and it is not just the 50% tax rate on the seriously rich.

Raymond Baker of Global Financial Integrity in the FT
Apr 24 (TJN) - Our good friend Raymond Baker at Global Financial Integrity in Washington has a wonderful comment piece in the FT today. It starts by mentioning the extraordinary political impact his data has been having in India, which we have already noted too.

Economic crisis - an end in sight?
Apr 24 (TJN) - Many people seem to think that the world economy, after a bad period, may have put the worst behind it. The cover of this week's Economist Magazine vividly illustrates the alternative opinion.

Jon Stewart demolishes Jim Kramer
Apr 23 (TJN) - We missed this when it came out last month. This astonishing demolition by Jon Stewart of CNBC's Jim Kramer is unforgettable. More on the failures of financial journalists here, with additional reasons here.

Foot: A safe pair of hands
Apr 22 (TJN) – Michael Foot’s Progress Report seems to be another of those reviews that toe the party line, in this case on tax havens.

Dismembering a tax haven
Apr 22 (TJN) - Some French protesters dismantling a tax haven, in front of the Stock Exchange in Paris, ahead of the G20 summit. (OK, we're a bit late . . . )

On tax-free charities
Apr 22 (TJN) - A Cayman news organisation, bridling at the attack on offshore financial centres, recently accused charitable organizations of hypocrisy in the area of tax evasion.


EU unveils hedge fund regulation
April 29 (FT) - Angry criticism from all sides greeted EU proposals to regulate “alternative investment funds” Wednesday, with private equity and hedge fund managers claiming they would profoundly damage their industry and some politicians saying the proposed rules are too lax.

Firms Brace For Details Of Obama Tax Plan On Foreign Profits
April 29 (Dow Jones) - U.S. business groups are bracing for the release, slated for next week, of the Obama Administration's proposals to tax overseas profits. Treasury officials now believe repealing deferral would generate significantly more than that, business sources say, perhaps as much as $250 billion.

UK Revenue to pour quarter of its £4bn budget into battle against tax evasion
April 28 (Times) - HM Revenue & Customs is to spend £1 billion on enforcement and compliance this year to cut tax avoidance and evasion by £2.4 billion, Britain's most senior tax collector said last night.

Developing countries to benefit from tax haven crackdown
April 27 (Economy News) OECD head says a crackdown on tax havens and cross-border tax evasion will help developing countries to raise more revenues.

Switzerland offers US possible deal on tax
April 27 (The Times) Switzerland has offered to sign up to a new tax accord with the US if it drops a tax evasion case against UBS, the Swiss bank.

PM pledges to seek return of $100bn stashed abroad
April 27 (Guardian) India's prime minister, Manmohan Singh, has made an election campaign pledge to claw back more than $100bn (£68bn) of cash stashed abroad by the country's wealthy.

Swiss finance minister asks U.S. to drop tax cases with dual-tax pact: report
April 26 (Market Watch) Switzerland asked U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner for criminal cases involving Swiss bank UBS AG

European Lawmakers Urge End To EU Tax Havens By 2014
April 24 (Nasdaq) Lawmakers at the European Parliament called Friday on all European Union governments to give up banking secrecy from 2014 at the latest.

IRS Wins a Battle in the War on Tax Havens
April 24 (CTJ) Tax Day marked a small victory for law-abiding taxpayers who are tired of subsidizing those who evade their taxes. On April 15, the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado granted the government permission to serve a "John Doe" summons on First Data Corporation.

More offshore tax probes in works: NY's Morgenthau
April 24 (Reuters) New York investigators have launched more probes like the $350 million money laundering case against Lloyds and are also working to uncover wrongdoing in offshore tax havens.

Arbitration not litigation will solve transfer pricing wrangles
April 23 (Accountancy Age) The highly complex and divisive issue of transfer pricing the practice of pricing or handing goods or assets from one part of a company to another and the need for the transaction to be priced at arms length.
http://steuergerechtigkeit.blogspot.com/2009/04/tjn-direktor-auf-alpentour-osterreich.html

German cabinet backs bill to fight tax dodging
April 22 (Guardian) German Chancellor Angela Merkel's cabinet has approved a draft law that would give the government additional powers to oversee companies and individuals that do business in tax havens

New measures to curb evasion
April 22 ( FT) Britons who fail to report the full extent of their earnings are to be “named and shamed” by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) as another round of measures to curb tax evasion begins.

Tax Haven Questions Could Trip Up Panama Trade Pact
April 22 (WSJ) Questions about Panama's status as a tax haven have raised a new hurdle for U.S. approval of a free trade deal between the U.S. and the Central American nation.

Austria a top tax oasis, says expert
April 17 (Weiner Zeitung) Head of Tax Justice Network John Christensen included Austria along with the UK, Switzerland, Luxembourg and the US state of Delaware as among the top ten tax havens in the world

Mexico's Dirty Cash
April 20 (ISN) As much as US$25 billion in drug money is laundered in Mexico annually, and some experts say the Mexican financial system is set up to facilitate money laundering rather than impede it, writes Samuel Logan for ISN Security Watch.

Philippines to revise bank secrecy laws
April 20 (FT.com) The Philippines is preparing to revise its bank secrecy laws and strengthen the hand of anti-money laundering investigators following a brief appearance on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s tax haven blacklist.

German cabinet to discuss plan to fight tax dodgers
April 20 (Reuters) The German cabinet will discuss a draft law to fight tax dodging at its meeting on Wednesday, finally addressing the issue after numerous delays, a government spokesman said on Monday.

Guyana Discusses Offshore Financial Centre Proposals
April 20 (Tax-news) - Guyana’s Minister of Finance, Ashni Singh (pictured), underlined his support to facilitate the development of Guyana as an Offshore Financial Centre at a meeting of senior Government officials and representatives of the Guyana Association of Bankers.

Greenland liked by offshore centres for tax deals
April 17 (Reuters) Offshore centres are rushing to sign data exchange tax deals with small Nordic countries such as Greenland to be taken off a "grey" list of tax havens, making a mockery of a G20 bid to clamp down on evasion, campaigners said.

Tax rates
April 17 (TJN) - . . . have been higher before. US Cartoon

Tax havens: India getting serious?
April 17 (TJN) - The Indian Central Board of Direct Taxes is investigating ways of acting against roundtripping and treaty shopping, capitalizing on concerted attempts worldwide to force greater disclosure on tax havens, Tax News reports.

India waking up - Part II
April 17 (TJN) - We have just noted the tax justice agenda starting to create ripples in India. Now we've been sent something else from TaxAnalysts - no link, unfortunately, as it's a subscription-only service. This new article, which quotes TJN, may help explain the moves by India to try and tighten up on tax havens.

The Solution to Ireland's Austerity Plan  - Make Bono Pay Tax
February 26 (CounterPunch) Cork-born British television super-star Graham Norton commented at the time: "People like Bono really annoy me. He goes to hell and back to avoid paying tax. He has a special accountant. He works out Irish tax loopholes.

Guyana Discusses Offshore Financial Centre Proposals, by Phillip Morton, Investors Offshore.com
April 20 (Tax-news) - Guyana’s Minister of Finance, Ashni Singh (pictured), underlined his support to facilitate the development of Guyana as an Offshore Financial Centre at a meeting of senior Government officials and representatives of the Guyana Association of Bankers. 

Guernsey press on Brown: playground bully
April 15 (TJN) – Jersey pretends not to care about the new UK letters. Guernsey’s press responds by calling Brown the “playground bully.”

A reminder: exchange of information can work
April 15 (TJN) - Accountancy magazine quotes a senior chartered accountant as saying that the cost of filtering through information obtained in the proposed global crackdown on tax havens may outweigh the revenue raised: "There’s so much data they don’t know what to do with it. How will HMRC deal with it?" This is nonsense, as Richard Murphy points out.

Over 70% support tax crackdown on wealthy
April 14 (TJN) - The British organisation Compass has published new research: "The results reveal that 77% indicated they agree that the government should do everything it can to close this £15 billion gap lost through personal tax avoidance."

OECD vs EU
April 16 (TJN) - Richard HayHard line European countries are successfully pursuing a competing information exchange philosophy - comprehensive and automatic information exchange - in the recently adopted Savings Tax Directive. If the OECD plan sinks, the EU philosophy will gain ground as the accepted international standard for tax information exchange."

Indian Tax Authority Considers Ways To Reduce Use Of Tax Havens
April 17 (Tax News) - The Indian Central Board of Direct Taxes is investigating ways of acting against roundtripping and treaty shopping, capitalizing on concerted attempts worldwide to force greater disclosure on tax havens. India is examining its own financial relationships with Mauritius and Cyprus in particular, which together account for 46% of total inward direct investment into India in the last decade. In fact Mauritius overtook the US in this period as the largest direct investor in India.

Jersey Funds Industry To Benefit From New Investment Vehicles Structures
April 16 (Tax News) - Jersey’s funds industry is set to benefit from the introduction of new legislation this year which will offer more choice for fund promoters over how they structure their investment vehicles, according to funds lawyers, Joel Hernandez and Sophie Travis at Jersey law firm, Mourant du Feu & Jeune.

Switzerland May Implement Sanctions Against OECD
April 16 (Tax News) - Switzerland may exercise its veto on various key votes within the OECD together with applying other financial sanctions aimed increasingly at Angel Gurria, the OECD Secretary-General in protest at the way he personally is applying pressure to relax bank secrecy laws and share information for tax purposes.

Switzerland Ready to Return $130m Loot
April 16 (This Day) - The Government of Switzerland yesterday said it would be willing to release the $150 million Halliburton bribe money trapped in Swiss bank accounts if Nigeria formally requests for assistance."We have discovered that $150 million of the bribe money is in Zurich.”

 ‘Eaten alive by investment bankers’
April 16 (FT) - “I witnessed trusting and naive provincial building society executives and non-executives, who had no real understanding of securitisation or structured finance or any other aspect of the workings of global capital markets, being eaten alive by cynical, rapacious and short-termist investment bankers

Financial Watchdog Lacks Bite
April 16 (FT) - Lord Turner of Ecchinswell, who became chairman of the FSA last September, has admitted that the City watchdog’s previous “light touch” form of regulation was a mistake. Lord Turner proposed restrictions on excessive bonuses and greater regulation of the “shadow banking” system, such as hedge funds and offshore tax havens.

UBS Client Pleads Guilty in Tax Case
April 14 (NYT) - A wealthy UBS private banking client whose yacht company caters to Russian oligarchs, Kuwaiti royals and other global jet-setters, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to tax fraud, the second American caught in a widening investigation of the Swiss banking giant.  

Radio: William Brittain-Catlin on tax havens

Radio: TJN's John Christensen on BBC World Service Analysis

Credit Card Processor Asked for Offshore Data
April 15 (NYT) - The federal government is widening its investigation of offshore tax evasion to include services sold by the First Data Corporation, a large processor of credit card transactions.

Still No Verdict in Castroneves Tax Case
April 15 (AP) - Jury deliberations will stretch into a fifth day in the complex tax evasion case of Brazilian race car driver Helio Castroneves and two co-defendants.

Obama Vows to Reform "Monstrous" Tax Code
April 15 (Reuters) - President Barack Obama promised Americans his administration would reform the "monstrous" U.S. tax system as millions faced the dreaded annual deadline on Wednesday for filing income tax returns.

The quiet coup
The American financial industry gained political power by amassing a kind of cultural capital—a belief system. Once, perhaps, what was good for General Motors was good for the country. Over the past decade, the attitude took hold that what was good for Wall Street was good for the country. The banking-and-securities industry has become one of the top contributors to political campaigns, but at the peak of its influence, it did not have to buy favors the way, for example, the tobacco companies or military contractors might have to. Instead, it benefited from the fact that Washington insiders already believed that large financial institutions and free-flowing capital markets were crucial to America’s position in the world.

Digger: Clubs no haven for super rich
April 7 (Guardian) - The ultimate controlling party for more than a third of the 20 Premier League clubs are based offshore

Panama holds out against campaign to end era of banking secrecy
April 13 (Times Online) Faced with the growing hostility of politicians, some tax havens quickly crumbled under the pressure.

Round-tripped FDI from tax havens under OECD review
April 13 (Financial Express) Days after G-20 nations agreed to crack down on tax havens where nearly $11 trillion is parked, the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has begun a review of India’s foreign direct investment (FDI) policy to suggest measures that will ease sector-specific ceilings as well as look into issues of round tripping.

Lord Ashcroft’s Belize Bank – a supplier of tax evasion services?
April 13 (Tax Research) The Belize Bank is owned by Lord Ashcroft – one of the biggest funders of the UK’s Conservative Party.

Swiss bank 'to close US customer accounts'
April 13 (Guardian) The Swiss bank Credit Suisse is edging towards closing the accounts of thousands of American customers as tax authorities in Washington step up a campaign against offshore banking secrecy.

It is time to put finance back in its box
April 13 (Financial Times) Nicolas Sarkozy arrived at the Group of 20 summit having said: “The all-powerful market that is always right is finished.” The French president left it proclaiming “a page has been turned” on the Anglo-Saxon financial model.

Welcome to tax-dodge city, USA
April 10 (Guardian) It lacks the palm-fringed sandy beaches of the Cayman Islands. Or the craggy Alpine peaks of Liechtenstein. But should the second smallest US state, Delaware, go on a blacklist of globally notorious tax havens?

New CTJ Fact Sheet: Do the Rich Really Pay Over a Third of Their Income in Federal Income Taxes?
April 10 (Tax Justice Digest) As we approach April 15th, one complaint we often hear is that Americans who work hard and become successful have to pay over a third of their income in federal income taxes. But a recent report from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) shows that this is not remotely true.

The G20’s plan to tackle banking secrecy is a small step in the right direction, says Prem Sikka
April 9 (Tribune Magazine) TAX avoidance has undermined the tax base of many countries

Shackelford Presents Corporate Income Tax Burdens at Home and Abroad Today at Northwestern
April 9 (Tax Prof Blog) Douglas Shackelford (University of North Carolina, Kenan-Flagler Business School) presents Corporate Income Tax Burdens at Home and Abroad (with Kevin Markle (University of North Carolina, Kenan-Flagler Business School) at Northwestern today as part of its Advanced Topics in Taxation Series organized by Tom Brennan and Charlotte Crane.  

Distributional Consequences of Converting the Property Tax to a Land Value Tax
April 8 (Tax Prof Blog) John H Bowman and Michael E Bell have published Distributional Consequences of Converting the Property Tax to a Land Value Tax: Replication and Extension of England and Zhao

Cabinet seeks greater say on tax haven laws
April 8 (Swiss Info) Switzerland is seeking to boost international cooperation to avoid a repeat of sanction threats against its financial centre.

Is the sun setting on Tax Dodgers?
Comment article from our friends at GFI.

Come to Sunny Jersey!
April 8 (Senator Stuart Syvret Blog) Just a brief post as I am doing yet more legal work - and as I've commented elsewhere, the police raid and search of my home on on Monday was - most definitely -unlawful.

Six tax breaks you've probably never heard of.
April 7 (Newsweek) Ah, the wild, wacky tax code—you gotta love it. With more than 20,000 pages of rules and regulations, there's something in it for everyone. And we mean everyone.

From the House That Ruth Built to the House the IRS Built
April 6 (Tax Foundation) The stadium's construction costs have been publicly subsidized in the form of $942 million in tax-exempt bonds issued by New York City.[3] Seeking tax-free status for the bonds to ensure a lower interest rate, New York structured the deal to ensure it didn't run afoul of a federal tax code provision which requires that such bonds not be "private activity bonds."
 

 

Where next on tax after the London Summit?
Apr 8 (TJN) – Two linked events on tax evasion and avoidance in a new era.

Two quotes - pollution and prediction
Apr 8 (TJN) - A reminder of our quotations page. Two quotations for the day.

Tax Analysts Launches Tax.com
Apr 8 (TJN) - TaxAnalysts is a well-respected American tax publication, hosting a variety of opinions, only some of which TJN would agree with. It is a subscription-only service. Now TaxProf informs us that Tax Analysts has launched Tax,com, self-described as "The Tax Daily for the Citizen Taxpayer."

BREAKING NEWS - Britain writes to its tax havens
Apr 9 (TJN) - We have just received copies of letters to the British tax havens from No. 10, Downing Street (for non-British readers, that's the British Prime Minster's office.) TJN is extremely encouraged by the content of these letters, notwithstanding the diplomatic language in which the points are made.

U.S. wealthy - how much tax do they pay?
Apr 13 (TJN) - This is a recurring theme in newspapers and the blogosphere. We note this new fact sheet from Citizens for Tax Justice in the U.S., which has crunched the numbers.

Swiss banker to EU: we knew we were tricking you
Apr 13 (TJN) - Konrad Hummler, the head of the Swiss private bankers' association, has made some fiery and anti-democratic statements in his time, but his recent comment on the EU Savings Tax Directive is particularlyeresting. 

 BREAKING NEWS - Britain writes to its tax havens
April 9 (TJN) - We have just received copies of letters to the British tax havens from No. 10, Downing Street. TJN is extremely encouraged by the content of these letters, notwithstanding the diplomatic language in which the points are made. We single out these points:

Iustitia et Pax
April 6 (TJN) - TJN's director John Christensen has been awarded the Justice and Peace – Iustitia et Pax - medal from the Vatican. Signed by Cardinal Renato Martino, President of the Pontificium Consilium de Iustitia et Pace.

Last week: a curate's egg - G20 and OECD
April 6 (TJN) - We've had a bit more time to reflect on the fast-moving events over the past week or so. In summary: the G20 TJN's agenda made useful strides, despite many disappointments. The OECD list has, by contrast, been on balance a highly negative development.

The OECD's list: we have a better idea - the FTI
April 6 (TJN) - TJN is putting together its own list, in partnership with Berlin-based Transparency International and Christian Aid, ranking jurisdictions in a new Financial Transparency Index(FTI). This will be a more objective, and more accurate, list of tax havens and what they do.

Tax Justice USA: secrecy remains intact
April 6 (TJN) - We note with concern that every element of the global shadow financial system remains intact. Comprising tax havens, secrecy jurisdictions, disguised corporations, anonymous trust accounts, fake foundations, trade mispricing techniques, and money laundering mechanisms, this structure moves cumulatively trillions of dollars across borders."

Tax Analysts Launches Tax.com
April 8 (TJN) - TaxAnalysts is a well-respected American tax publication, hosting a variety of opinions, only some of which TJN would agree with. Tax Analysts has launched Tax,com, self-described as "The Tax Daily for the Citizen Taxpayer".

Two quotes - pollution and prediction
April 8 (TJN) - Tax shelters are to democracy what pollution is to the environment
-    David Cay Johnston, in Perfectly Legal: The Covert Campaign to Rig Our Tax System

Where next on tax after the London Summit?
April 8 (TJN) - Two tax justice events, linked together. At the LSE, April 30.

Ten principles for a Black Swan-proof world
April 8 (TJN) - Ten principles from the FT today by Nassim Nicholas Taleb . Offshore operators, take note.

OECD blacklist - empty?
April 7 (TJN) - While we can give the OECD list approach credit for putting pressure to sign up to OECD standards, the speed and ease with which this has happened also gives an indication how unthreatening the OECD standards must be.

New paper on tax competition
April 7 (TJN) - A new paper is available (in English) in the publication Internationale Politik und Gesellschaft, Deadlocked European Tax Policy. Which Way Out of the Competition for the Lowest Taxes? by Christian Kellermann/Andreas Kammer.

The McIntyres give evidence
April 6 (TJN) - Two leading US tax experts, the brothers Bob McIntyre (Director of Citizens for Tax Justice) and Michael J. McIntyre (a professor of law at Wayne State University in Detroit, who recently wrote for TJN) have recently given evidence to the US House Committee on Ways and Means, looking at ways that the U.S. can reduce international tax evasion by wealthy Americans.

In praise of . . . decent people in indecent times
April 6 (TJN) - In the heat of the moment it is easy to forget how far TJN has come, and in such short time.

Eva Joly: G20, Berlin Wall and new book
April 6 (TJN) - The crime-fighting Norwegian special adviser and former Paris-based investigating magistrate Eva Joly has written a new book. "'The time of banking secrecy is over,' says the final declaration of the G20. A little presumptuous.. . . We cannot refound the global financial system with tax havens in our midst.

Infernal Machines - TJN Coimbra presentation
April 6 (TJN) - We now have a Portuguese translation of a paper that was the basis of a presentation made to the Faculty of Economics at the University of Coimbra, Portugal, on 25th March, 2009. (We noted this in our links here.)

Tax haven crackdown flushes out German tax dodgers
Apr 8 (Guardian) - Zumwinkel kicked off a bit of an avalanche," said Andreas Boehm, a lawyer based in central Berlin. "Afterwards, the number of people coming clean with us ... rose by about 400 to 500 percent. And that level has been maintained."

Tax havens just a tip of the iceberg
On Kibaki-era corruption, the three contracts entirely negotiated and signed by Narc administration officials involved transactions in the British tax havens of Jersey and Guernsey. A probe by the UK’s Serious Fraud

Swiss bank accounts freeze blow to looters
April (Eastern Standard) - The veil on the shadowy figures behind the Anglo Leasing-type contracts could soon be lifted following the decision by Swiss authorities to freeze major bank accounts held by fictitious companies. Kenya.

On information exchange
April 3 (TJN) 'TJN's Murphy on information exchange in the Guardian'

Draft briefing paper: on exchanging information
April 3 (TJN) TJN releases a public draft of a briefing paper on information exchange.

The OECD Global Forum: the list
April 3 (TJN) 'We now have a new tax haven list entitled "A Progress Report on the Jurisdictions Surveyed by the OECD Global Forum in Implementing the Internationally Agreed Tax Standard.'

Tax competition: Picking each others' pockets
April 3 (TJN) 'The Guardian today points out something that we have long said about an ideology that almost nobody in the mainstream media thought to question until now.'

G20 blogging
April 2 (TJN) 'Richard Murphy is in the thick of it today.'

A unilateralist China, tax havens' friend?
April 2 (TJN) 'We have long noted with concern China's willingness to protect tax havens close to it, notably Hong Kong and Macau, and possibly Singapore.'

Geldof gets it?
April 2 (TJN) 'The aid campaigner Bob Geldof apparently just told Richard Murphy, in front of a scrum of cameras, that it's time to close tax havens.'

UK government: tax havens contributed to the crisis
April 2 (TJN) Penny begins to drop?

G20: what we got
April 2 (TJN) 'Senior TJN advisor, director of Tax Research LLP and official G20 blogger Richard Murphy, assesses the pros and cons of the G20 party...

Sarkozy: we want a list or lists of tax havens
April 1 (TJN) “We want clear precision of what a tax haven is, not a place where you pay few taxes, but a place that doesn’t give information on the origin of funds. . . We want one or several lists of financial centers that don’t cooperate with regard to (the OECD criteria.)"

TJN Germany blog is live
March 31 (TJN) 'A rich new source of tax justice information will now be made available in German'

G20: Les gros se ménagent et s’en prennent aux petits
April 8 (e Temps) – The EU is not, or is no longer, defending its small members states against the larger ones. English web translation here.

Sévère passe d’armes entre la Suisse et l’OCDE au sujet du secret bancaire
April 8 (Le Temps) – Switzerland accuses the OECD of having been manipulated by the G20, while the OECD demands that Switzerland ratifies its exchange of information commitments rapidly. Translation.

Tax havens: any real change?
UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown declared "the start of the end" for tax havens as we know them, at the conclusion of last week's G20 summit in London. Is this the beginning of a new era of transparency in banking? TJN's Matti Kohonen debates with Pascal Saint-Amans of the OECD. English version, French version.

Tax haven crackdown not to yield much for India
 April 7, 2009,

Cayman Islands plays down "gray" tax haven listing
April 3 (Reuters) - The government of the Cayman Islands, a major Caribbean financial center, said on Friday it was moving to improve its cooperation to fight tax evasion and played down its inclusion on an OECD "gray list."

Northern Rock has £1bn branch in tax haven
April 5 (Times) - GORDON BROWN has been accused of the “height of hypocrisy” for allowing the state-owned Northern Rock to run an offshore bank in the Channel Islands while he is leading a global campaign against tax havens. Northern Rock Guernsey boasts on its website that it is a “major competitor in the offshore retail savings market”.

Swiss to discuss working with U.S. on tax
April 6 (Reuters) - Switzerland will start negotiations with the United States over its existing double-taxation treaty at the end of April, the Swiss ambassador to the United States told Swiss television late on Friday. "The first discussions already took place in Washington last week.

Officials: Nevada not tax Haven : State leaders rebut statement by premier from Luxembourg
April 6 (Las Vegas Review Journal) - The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations three years ago questioned a deputy secretary of state from Nevada, a Delaware official and others about laws that allow corporations to withhold the identity of their owners. An official told the subcommittee that the Internal Revenue Service was considering "mass audits" of Nevada corporations that do not file tax returns. An IRS official late Friday did not immediately know whether the agency conducted the audits.

The trouble with tax tricks
April 4 (Guardian) - Tax avoidance has created a mirage of large corporate profits, which has turned many a CEO into a media star and even secured knighthoods and peerages for some. Yet the profits have been manufactured by a sleight of hand. Let us get back to the basics.

Estate Tax: Senate Approves a Break for Millionaires that Leader Reid Calls "So Stunning, So Outrageous"
April 3 (CTJ) - Incredibly, 51 Senators voted to approve an amendment offered by Senators Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) and Jon Kyl (R-AZ) to cut the estate tax even more than this. The 2009 estate tax rules exempt the first

Cayman Islands signs tax information agreements with Nordic economies
April 1 (OECD) _ The Cayman Islands has signed bilateral agreements with seven Nordic economies - Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Norway and the Faroe Islands - on exchange of information for tax purposes.

Sinking assets
April 2 (The Economist) – The Economist changes its tune on tax havens. On Britain’s Crown Dependencies -Richard Murphy, who campaigns against tax havens, argues that, whatever else they may claim, these two Channel Islands rely on secrecy to attract business. If that is stripped away they are “dead in the water”, he says.

Live from the G-20 Summit: Another Blogger Breakthrough
April 2 (Huffington Post) I became the first blogger ever in world history to ask a question at a summit conference to a prime minister who had hosted the meeting. Listen to Richard here.


The strange case of Macau, the tax haven that disappeared
April 3 (BBC) – A reporter digs up some of the behind-the-scenes bargaining over the OECD list.

G20 declares door shut on tax havens
April 2 (Guardian) - The most dramatic crackdown on tax havens was unveiled by G20 leaders at their summit today, paving the way for the naming and shaming of countries that fail to comply with internationally agreed standards. (TJN notes progress, but is rather less enthusiastic.)

Petition on monetary reform
March (No 10) - We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to Include international and national monetary reform on the G20 agenda for 2nd April. More details here. http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/G20moneyreform/#detail

http://www.lecourrier.ch/special/promotion/aab5f2ae3772a2e/LeCourrier_2009-03-30.pdf

US and Gibraltar agree to share tax information
April 1 (Guardian) - The clampdown on tax havens around the world gathered pace today when the US government and Gibraltar announced an agreement to exchange information on tax matters.

Liechtenstein tax deal edges closer as France begins fraud inquiry
April 1 (Guardian) - The crackdown on tax havens across the world intensified last night as Britain's most senior taxman flew to Switzerland to negotiate a deal that the Treasury hopes will force British companies to stop using bank accounts in Liechtenstein to avoid paying tax.

Michelin, Total, Adidas face money-laundering probe
March 31 (France24) - Tyre maker Michelin, oil firm Total and sports firm Adidas are suspected of evading French taxes via accounts in the Alpine principality of Liechtenstein, French prosecutors said on Tuesday.

“G192” ONLY CREDIBLE BODY TO BRING ABOUT REFORMS
March 6 (SUNS) - The "G192", namely, the entire membership of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), is the only credible group to bring about the necessary reforms of the 21st century, in the context of the current global economic and financial crises, the President of the Assembly declared Thursday.

France Hints at Leaving G-20 Summit
MARCH 31 (Reuters) - French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said President Nicolas Sarkozy would walk away from this week's Group of 20 meeting in London if no progress was made on global financial regulations.

Brown backs new global assault on tax avoidance
April 5 (Observer) - Gordon Brown this weekend increased the likelihood of a co-ordinated global clampdown on aggressive tax avoidance by opening a new front against secret offshore financial centres.



False Profits: robbing the poor to keep the rich tax-free     
March 28 (TJN) – ‘Christian Aid's new extensively researched report with the above title provides more staggering evidence of the scale of illicit flows and the offshore system. It looks at trade mispricing, which can either happen within a multinational company (when it is called transfer mispricing) or in secret deals between unrelated companies.’ http://www.christianaid.org.uk/ActNow/the-big-tax-return/false-profits.aspx
 
A reminder: what corruption really is
March 27 (TJN) – ‘Last year we published a long article on corruption in The American Interest. Until TJN came along, and as far as we can tell, nobody had ever articulated this completely new take on corruption, though obviously the odd aspect popped up from time to time.’

Secrecy vs Confidentiality
March 27 (TJN) – ‘A frequent justification trotted out by defenders of tax havens is that wealthy people need privacy. Not surprisingly, it is being pleaded all over the place now, as tax havens have come under pressure.’

The subsidy to hedge funds
March 27 (TJN) – ‘Hedge funds attract a great amount of suspicion. Tax is at the core of why this should be so.’

Tax havens and the economic crisis - a reminder
March 27 (TJN) – ‘Many of the roots of the current global economic crisis trace back to offshore financial centres located in tax havens. These include both those located in the smaller, mostly island states like Cayman and Jersey, and the larger tax havens like the City of London, Switzerland, Dublin, Delaware or Luxembourg.’

New study - Britain and the U.S. may be the dirtiest tax havens
March 27 (TJN) - With a small budget, and using classified ads, a professor made bids to set up shell companies in 22 countries. He found that countries where the misuse of rules is easiest are not the exotic islands, Switzerland or Liechtenstein - but the United States and Great Britain.

Economic Crisis + Offshore
March (TJN) – ‘Many of the roots of the current global economic crisis trace back to offshore financial centres located in tax havens. These include both those located in the smaller, mostly island states like Cayman and Jersey, and the larger tax havens like the City of London, Switzerland, Dublin, Delaware or Luxembourg. These tax havens did not "cause" the crisis, but they contributed powerfully to it.’

Lessons From the Last War on Tax Havens
July 30 2007 (Tax Analysts) – ‘In a war waged primarily from 1998 through 2002, 35 tax havens - - including some of the world's smallest countries — beat back an attack on their offshore business led by the OECD, the protector of the collective economic interest of 30 of the world's biggest countries.’

Obama: latest on tax havens
March 26 (TJN) – ‘In yesterday's Op-Ed he wrote: "We must crack down on offshore tax havens and money laundering. Instead of patchwork efforts that enable a race to the bottom, we must provide the clear incentives for good behavior that foster a race to the top.’

Pirates of the Caribbean
March 26 (Tax Research UK) –  ‘The British Prime Minister’s ambitions seem as global as those of the Virgin Queen, who dominated the seas thanks to seafarers such as Walter Raleigh and Francis Drake. But one nation’s heroes can be another’s pirates. It was under Brown, today’s scourge of tax havens, that Britain consolidated its position as the greatest operator of tax havens.’

TJN: official G20 blogger
March 26 (TJN) – ‘Richard Murphy, Senior Advisor to TJN makes blogging history as part of the NGO coalition – the G20Voice.’

TJN Germany - spreading its wings
March 26 (TJN) – ‘Today at 2pm, and led by TJN-Germany, 17 German civil society organizations handed over a call for a determined clampdown on tax havens to the German Secretary of Finance, Nicolette Kressl.’

TJN in the FT: Swiss bank secrecy
March 26 (TJN) – ‘We have this letter in the FT today, responding to an earlier long FT piece (Swiss secrecy laws had nothing to do with the Nazis) written by Bruno Gurtner, Chair of the Global TJN Board, Switzerland.’

UNCTAD blames deregulation, seeks code of conduct
March 26 (TJN) – ‘The UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has issued a report ahead of next month's G20 summit saying what is by now well known: a sustained process of financial deregulation -- within countries and between countries -- led to an expanding cycle of optimism and risk-taking that is at the root of the current global crisis.’

Britain's disgrace, again
Last July we wrote an article about Britain's libel laws, which are an international disgrace. It quoted a commentator as saying: "The libel laws of England and Wales are tilted so heavily against the defendant and involve such monumental costs that they amount, in effect, to censorship by private interests: a sedition law for the exclusive use of millionaires." Here is some more.

Breaking the Curse: TJN4Africa
March 26 (TJN) – ‘The study found some very disturbing common features across the seven countries – Ghana, Malawi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Zambia and South Africa where the research were conducted. It demonstrates that African governments are foregoing millions of dollars in tax revenue from the mining industry.’

UN commission of experts on financial crisis - recommendations
March 26 (TJN) – ‘The high-level UN commission of experts on reforming the international monetary and financial system, chaired by the Nobel prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz, has now issued its preliminary recommendations. We are highly encouraged by what we see, and we note that recommendations we submitted to the Commission are substantially reflected in this draft.’

OECD: some nuts and bolts
March 26 (TJN) – ‘Recently we wrote a highly critical blog looking at what we see as the OECD’s feeble standards and criticising it for effectively setting itself up to fail: allowing the creation of a blacklist that singles out small island states and significantly absolves the large tax haven culprits like London, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Austria, Belgium: the OECD’s own.’

OECD Setting Itself up for Failure?
March 20 (TJN) – ‘A major new threat appears to be emerging to efforts to crack down on tax havens. It is coming, if early reports are correct, from the OECD. Recently we noted a story on a Luxembourg blog site, pointing to a (hitherto unpublished) proposed OECD blacklist on tax havens. The blog was entitled "The less you contribute to OECD budget the more influence you have on the policies." and was based on a report in Germany's Tagesanzeiger newspaper.’

Trillions down the drain: tax havens and shadow banks
March 26 (TJN) – ‘This is the title of a first-rate article published by a German political magazine looking at tax havens and the economic crisis. It is written by Nicola Liebert, an active member of TJN-Germany, and Axel Troost, a member of the German Bundestag (parliament) who is also a TJN member. An early paragraph gives a flavour, quoting the Deputy Managing Director of the Bank for International Settlements as saying that the emergence of a "shadow banking system" had simply not been noticed’

Letter to the Financial Crisis Advisory Group
March 23 (TJN) – ‘Tax Justice Network has submitted the following letter, written by co-founder John Christensen, to the Financial Crisis Advisory Group of the International Accounting Standards Board. It is crucially important that this Group understands the importance of a reform of reporting standards for multinational companies in order to transform their operational transparency, and that the wider world understands how important this is.’

Besieged Brown and the tax havens
March 23 (TJN) – ‘A new article entitled "Brown plans global scrutiny of tax havens" suggests that UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown is taking the tax haven issue seriously. This is slightly at odds with a blog we did last month casting doubt upon the UK's commitment to the issue. Since then, we've received some encouraging signs.’

Brown plans global scrutiny of tax havens
March 23 (Guardian) – ‘Tax havens will be forced to submit themselves to international scrutiny under plans to tackle their culture of secrecy being proposed by Gordon Brown.’

UEFA Considering Tax On Super-Rich Football Clubs
March 27 (Taxnews) - UEFA, the governing body for European football, has announced this week proposals to introduce a tax on big-money transfers in order to try to support struggling clubs forced into debt by their rich, often investor-backed, counterparts.

Sardinia To Scrap Wealth Tax Regime
March 27 (Tax News) - Sardinia’s new governor, Ugo Cappallacci, has announced this week that he is to retract his predecessor’s luxury tax regime. The sunny island off the coast of Italy, which hosts numerous VIPs and HNWIs, currently levies substantial taxes on private yacht and flight arrivals.


Brown snubbed over tax
March 29 (Times Online) – ‘GORDON BROWN’S carefully laid plans for a G20 deal on worldwide tax cuts have been scuppered by an eve-of-summit ambush by European leaders.’

UBS says Swiss tax move does not weaken it in U.S
March 27 (Reuters) – ‘UBS said on Thursday a decision by Switzerland and other offshore centers to cooperate more on tax evasion did not weaken the Swiss bank's stance in an ongoing U.S. tax dispute.’

Berlin Takes on the Tax Havens
March 27 (Spiegel) – ‘The German government is applying pressure on offshore tax havens. It is also taking action against German banks operating in Switzerland, where they maintain accounts for shadowy Liechtenstein foundations. In a time of economic crisis, Berlin needs all the tax euros it can get.’

Hell Nay, We Won’t Pay
March 27 (NY Times) – ‘Thanks to “Cracking the Code” which, by his count, has spawned “CtC Warrior” support groups in 48 states — author Peter Hendrickson has found, as he puts it, “a more productive” way to fight the income tax. Rather than mail a bomb to the I.R.S., he has taught thousands of Americans how to send the I.R.S. and state tax agencies what he calls “educated returns” — and what the I.R.S. calls fraudulent ones.A tale of tax deniers.

The mystery of the phantom 7236 clients of UBS
March (Le Temps) - ‘The documents delivered to the American courts by a former employee revealed that the bank has lost contact with thousands of customers. Ten years after the affair of the dormant, Switzerland has adopted no specific legislation on the subject.’

The Quiet Coup
May (The Atlantic) – ‘The crash has laid bare many unpleasant truths about the United States. One of the most alarming, says a former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund, is that the finance industry has effectively captured our government—a state of affairs that more typically describes emerging markets, and is at the center of many emerging-market crises. If we are to prevent a true depression, we’re running out of time.’

Switzerland: Lacking the Political Will
March (Le Temps) – ‘When the panel that I chair has submitted a bill in 2004, international pressure had disappeared. Switzerland kept the feeling of having been unjustly mistreated,’ said Luc Thévenoz, Professor of Law at Geneva University.

Zambia parliament approves scrapping windfall tax
March 28 (Reuters) – ‘Zambia's parliament has agreed to abolish a controversial 25 percent windfall tax to reduce pressure on foreign mining firms hit by the global financial crisis, Mines Minister Maxwell Mwale said on Saturday.’

Island ‘likely to escape’ G20 blacklist inclusion
March 26 (This Is Guernsey) – ‘GUERNSEY is set to reach the finish line in its efforts to escape being blacklisted by the G20, the chief minister believes.’

FACTBOX: What is the G20?
(Reuters) - Leaders of the G20 major economies are due to meet in London on Thursday to review progress in tackling the biggest economic crisis since the 1930s. Following are some details of the group's origins and achievements so far.

Tax havens feel the heat
March 30 (FT) - Officials are exploring the possibility of moving negotiations on information exchange on to a multilateral basis. Developing countries are acutely aware of how much tax revenue they lose to evasion. “I don’t think it’s overstating it to say it’s the dawn of a new era” said John Riches, deputy chairman of STEP Worldwide, a professional body for wealth advisers.

Swiss to give Britain bank papers in bribery case
March 30 (AP) - Swiss authorities will provide bank account details to Britain in a multimillion dollar Nigeria bribery case involving a subsidiary of Halliburton Co., court rulings said Monday.

UK plans to ban use of offshore centres
March 30 (FT) - Banks operating in Britain will be banned from using tax havens if they sign up to a draft code of practice drawn up by the government to address a row over their aggressive tax planning. The code will only succeed if the government is able to persuade all banks, including UK branches of overseas banks, to sign up to it.

White House announces tax reform task force
March 25 (The Hill) - The Obama administration announced Wednesday that it is creating a task force to examine ways to simplify the tax code, close tax loopholes, lessen tax evasion and reduce corporate welfare.

Combating Global Climate Change: Why a Carbon Tax is a Better Response to Global Warming than Cap and Trade
March (Stanford Environmental Law Journal) - A carbon tax could be implemented and enforced without the need for a complex new regulatory scheme and would provide an immediate carbon price signal. In addition, revenue from a carbon tax could support research and development of alternative energy and ease any regressive effects of the tax.

Swiss To Sign Model Treaty With US, Japan,
March 29 (Tax News) - Swiss Finance Minister Hans-Rudolf Merz has underlined Switzerland’s strategy in conforming to OECD’s standards through the signing of double tax agreements, providing for the exchange of information upon request. It is understood that the first two revised treaties will be signed with Japan and the US.

China Implements Measures To Combat Tax Evasion
March 29 (Tax News) - The Chinese State Administration of Taxation has removed tax privileges afforded under various double taxation treaties to foreign investors who misuse the system of 'special purpose vehicles' as a means of reducing their tax liabilities or circumventing exchange controls.

French Parliament Rejects Proposal To Tax The Rich
March 29 (Tax News) - Members of France’s National Assembly have nevertheless voted to reject four amendments to the much trumpeted “bouclier fiscal” or tax shield, including proposals to “suspend” the tax shield for 2009 income, and to increase tax on high-income earners, as a sign of solidarity in a time of crisis.

The club of incorruptibles.
March 23 (Le Monde) - They belong to the same brotherhood, that of men and women with no other purpose than to clean up the world democracies in tracking corruption in every corner. They are members of a private network created by the former judge Eva Joly, with the active support of Norway. They are not numerous, about twenty, and meet discreetly twice a year. In February, they met in Zambia.

Toxic Assets Were Hidden Assets
March 25 (WS Journal) - Hernando de Soto, author of "The Mystery of Capital" writes in an opinion for the Wall Street Journal that toxic assets are a symptom of the debased global financial architecture, a problem that must be tackled from the root in order to reign derivatives in. This must be done using six longstanding procedures to guarantee value such as recording assets and transactions, and prioritizing production over finance.

Stockbrokers 'hid AIB deals behind secret tax havens'
March 25 (Independent) Dubbed the 'Irish-style Watergate' AIB's stockbroking arm used black-listed tax havens to circumvent rules preventing it from buying and selling the bank's shares, the bank's former auditor told a Dail committee yesterday.

A seven day plan pre the G20
March 25 (Tax Research UK) Co-founder of Tax Justice Network Richard Murphy, blogging from the House of Commons, outlines a seven point plan toward reforming the global financial architecture in response to a challenge by Michael Meacher MP in a classic 'what would you do if you were Gordon Brown for a day..(or week).

Obama’s bank plan could rob the taxpayer
March 25 (Financial Times) Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, comments on the Geithner-Summers plan saying, 'under the plan the loan is precisely designed to be a one-way bet, for the purpose of overpricing the toxic asset in order to bail out the bank’s shareholders at hidden cost to the taxpayers.'

Tax: Sarkozy ready to resign from his post as co-prince of Andorra
March 24 (AFP) PARIS (AFP) 'President Nicolas Sarkozy has threatened Wednesday to UMP members to resign from his post as co-prince of Andorra if the G20 does not progress on the issue of tax havens.'

Tough rules needed to shut financial market casino - UN
March 19 (Reuters) Tough international rules are needed to regulate currency, commodities and other financial markets and "close down the big casino" to prevent more economic crises, a U.N. agency said on Thursday.

Volcker panel to study tax reform, report to Obama
March 25 (Reuters) 'A panel led by former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker will study options for U.S. tax reform and report back to President Barack Obama by December 4, the White House budget director said on Wednesday.'

Early Day Motion
March 24 (UK Parliament) - That this House condemns Barclays Bank for indulging in alleged tax avoidance schemes which may have reduced the Treasury's tax revenues by over £1 billion; and urges the Government not to provide any loans, guarantees and financial support to Barclays and suspend its deposit-taking licence until it cleans up its affairs and withdraws from manufacturing, marketing, sale and implementation of all tax avoidance schemes.

Early Day Motion
March 24 (UK Parliament) - That this House congratulates Wikileak for publishing documents relating to alleged tax avoidance schemes used by Barclays Bank; and urges the Government to place copies of those documents on the HM Treasury website.


AIG's Bonus Unit Now in IRS's Sights
March 24 (WS Journal) 'Some of the same banks that got government-funded payouts to settle contracts with American International Group Inc. also turned to the insurer for help cutting their income taxes in the U.S. and Europe, according to court records and people familiar with the business.'

Bancos devem dar mais informação aos clientes - Silva Lopes
25 Mar (Lusa) – Former Portuguese Finance Minister calls for more international financial transparency at TJN event involving John Christensen in Coimbra, Portugal. Translation here.

A vault unlocked
March 23 (Financial Times) 'Bern’s acceptance of international standards on tax transparency, potentially lifting the veil on billions of francs in foreign assets never declared by their owners, came in an international chain reaction by countries whose bank secrecy rules long appeared impregnable.'

Almost half of all Malaysians guilty of tax evasion:
March 23 (Earth Times) 'At least 900,000 Malaysians are guilty of not paying their taxes'
There were an estimated 2 million people with taxable earnings in the country, but only 1.1 million are currently paying. Companies fared even worse, with only 104,000 corporations paying taxes on their profits, out of the 500,000 firms registered.

Co-op credit societies may be used for money laundering
March 23 (The Economic Times) India: 'With banks closing most loopholes for money laundering, co-operative credit societies may turn out to be the weak link in the system.'

France and Jersey in deal to fight tax fraud
March 23 (Reuters) 'France and Jersey have signed an agreement to combat tax fraud by exchanging information, the French government said on Monday.

Andorra, Taxed by the Financial Crisis
March 24 (Le Monde) No one would criticise Obama for ognoring Andorra, 'yet despite its Lilliputian size, these entities will hold for a few hours of the major discussions of this world at the G20 summit held in London on 2 April.'

On Tax Havens
March 24 (Le Monde) 'At the heart of St. Helier prosperous one of the most formidable network of financial institutions on the planet. This island of 186 km2 and 90 000 people raised a short distance from Cherbourg has 47 branches of international banks and several hundred fund managers, accounting firms and law firms.'

London and New York are also tax havens
March 24 (Le Monde) Marc Roche of the Le Monde interviews John Christensen, Director of the Tax Justice Network.

Switzerland: Moralising small steps
March 24 (Le Monde) Switzerland and the fate of foreign funds is as stake as the question of tax evasion, fraud and capital flight is questioned by the international community.

Swiss banks ban top executive travel
March 26 (TJN) - Switzerland’s private banks have started to ban their top executives from travelling abroad, even to neighbouring France and Germany, because of fears they will be detained as part of a global crackdown on bank secrecy.

Offshore account holders offered tax deal
March 26 (FT) - Thousands of British investors with up to £3bn stashed in secret Liechtenstein bank accounts will be asked to come forward voluntarily under a deal to be negotiated next week that could be the first of many worldwide.

Barclays tax documents: how Matthew Oakeshott told their lordships what we couldn't
March 27 (Guardian) - Yesterday in the Lords, Matthew Oakeshott, the Lib Dem Treasury spokesman, used parliamentary privilege to tell his fellow peers about what newspapers could not: Documents leaked to the Liberal Democrats.

House Committee Schedules Hearing On Banking Secrecy
March 26 (Tax-News) - Congressman Richard Neal has announced that a House of Representatives committee will hold a hearing on issues involving 'banking secrecy practices and wealthy American taxpayers.' It will focus on the apparent limitations of the Qualified Intermediary (QI) program.

An imbalanced summit
March 25 (Asia Times) - By Oscar Ugarteche - A group of seven highly indebted rich countries (HIRC) of the world have organized a meeting of 20 nations in London next month to discuss the future of the world's finances. They have called to the table some creditor developing countries, such as Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, some Arab countries, China and India, but have left aside all the world's other surplus countries, creditors to the US and Europe.

Where on earth are you? Big companies in tax havens
 March 23 (TJN) _ A new TJN report, producing information and analysis that has never been seen before, surveyed 97 of the largest quoted companies in the UK, the Netherlands and France. Of those companies all but one had tax haven subsidiaries. 99 per cent of the European quoted companies surveyed operate in tax havens. As in the USA, the largest user of tax havens in every country surveyed was a bank.

Where on earth are you?
March 21 (Tax Research) - This report builds on a finding in the United States that 83 per cent of the largest US companies have tax haven / secrecy jurisdiction subsidiaries. The report surveyed 97 of the largest quoted companies in the UK, the Netherlands and France. All but one had tax haven subsidiaries. 99 per cent of the European quoted companies surveyed operate in tax havens. As in the USA, the largest user of tax havens in every country surveyed was a bank. This is the first time we have had this information.

Tax havens exist because of the hypocrisy of larger states
March 21 (FT) - Excellent article by John Kay, despite the ominous headline. Havens exist only because larger states allow them to exist, and larger states allow them to exist because the customers of havens are the rich and powerful. In the 1860s, the typical client of a haven was a patron of Blanc’s casino: in the years after 2000, the typical client of a haven was a hedge fund registered in Grand Cayman.

The Big Takeover
April 2 edition (Rolling Stone) Wonderfully written long article about AIG and the financial crisis, comparing it to Enron. This is a company that built a giant fortune across more than a century by betting on safety-conscious policyholders — people who wear seat belts and build houses on high ground — and then blew it all in a year or two by turning their entire balance sheet over to a guy who acted like making huge bets with other people's money would make his dick bigger.

Barroso sees US-Europe ‘convergence’
March 20 (FT) - The US and the European Union are finding common ground in their efforts to strengthen global financial market regulation. José Manuel Barroso predicted that, if the push for tighter regulation ran into obstacles, they might come from big emerging countries such as China rather than the US or UK.

Macho poker bets, summary sackings and an 'electric chair'
March 20 (Guardian) - High stakes poker games, a "cow eating club", brutal sackings and a team-building exercise in which an executive was strapped into a mock electric chair.

Watchdog fears market ‘Ponzimonium’
March 20 (FT) - US federal regulators have warned of a “rampant Ponzimonium” as they disclosed they are investigating “hundreds” of possible scams in the aftermath of the $50bn fraud allegedly perpetrated by Bernard Madoff.

RBS faces probe over 'threats' to directors
March 22 (Guardian) _ The scandal engulfing the Royal Bank of Scotland reaches new heights today with serious allegations from a senior Labour politician that at least three of its former non-executive directors may have been intimidated and threatened with the sack for asking searching questions about its financial affairs.

Peripheral care should be the central concern
March 22 (FT) - Europe and the US guaranteed that no other important financial institution would be allowed to fail. Many poor countries could not offer similar guarantees. So capital fled from the periphery to the centre. The flight was abetted by national financial authorities at the centre who encouraged banks to repatriate their capital. When history is written, it will be recorded that – in contrast to the Great Depression – protectionism first prevailed in finance rather than trade.

Barclays tax dodge ‘nets £1bn a year ’
March 15 (Sunday Times) - The whistle-blower argues that HMRC has been unable to keep pace with the team, which has “huge resources” and pays the best tax minds large bonuses. “Negotiations with the Revenue . . . only ever resulted in wide grins and much back-slapping within SCM at the ease with which would always roll over and beg rather than bite,” he said.

Barclays gags Guardian over tax
Injunction forces news website to remove seven leaked memos showing how bank avoided hundreds of millions of pounds in tax. The Guardian has removed them. However, you can still access the files here. http://file.sunshinepress.org:54445/barclays-tax-avoidance-scm-censored-guardian-2009.zip

Revenue investigates Barclays tax mole claims
March 16 (Guardian) - HM Revenue & Customs was tonight investigating explosive allegations about tax avoidance schemes operated by Barclays Bank, made by a whistleblower in the firm and apparently substantiated by leaked documents.

Barclays – what to do about it
Richard Murphy looks at some ways to deal with banking tax abuse. Part 1, (overview, some principles) - Part 2 (Code of Conduct), Part 3 (interpreting the law), Part 4 (general anti-avoidance principle.)

RBS avoided £500m of tax in global deals
March 13 (Guardian) - Royal Bank of Scotland tied up at least £25bn in complex international tax-avoidance schemes during its boom years, costing the British and US treasuries more than £500m in lost revenue, the Guardian can disclose. Richard Murphy peeks at the accounts here.

John Christensen, combattant infiltré dans les paradis fiscaux
A profile of TJN’s director John Christensen in Libération newspaper.

Non-governmental Groups In Jersey Protest At Tax Havens
March 13 (AFP)--Dozens of non-governmental organizations Friday joined a protest against tax havens outside  international banks on Jersey in the Channel Islands. "We are here in Jersey not because we want to draw a picture of Jersey itself, we want to draw your attention to the major problems in the entire financial system," said John Christensen of the Tax Justice Network.

U.S. Senate's Baucus targets offshore tax evaders
March 12 (Reuters) - Another bill to crack down on offshore tax evasion is being developed in the U.S. Congress.  The chairman of the Senate Finance Committee said on Thursday he is seeking input from other lawmakers on a preliminary draft of a bill calling for higher levels of Internal Revenue Service oversight of offshore tax issues.  Sen. Max Baucus said his bill would also require that tax preparers ask more questions about foreign accounts, that certain reports be filed with tax returns, and that penalties for violations be raised.

I’m hoping this isn’t true
March 15 (Tax Research) - Reuters has reported: Switzerland has won the backing of G20 chairman Britain for its efforts to stay off an international blacklist of uncooperative tax havens, the finance ministry said on Saturday. It would be incredible if this story were true.

Tax havens: bilateral deals will not do
March 14 (Tax Research) – The UK Prime Minister’s office has published a press release after this morning’s meeting with Chancellor Merkel of Germany. “Old tax havens have no place in this new world” and called upon all countries to share tax information with one another.” But it’s not good enough. They called for an extension of bilateral information exchange processes inherent in the OECD tax information exchange agreements.  These things are near to useless. Richard Murphy explains why. Also see here on TIEAS. http://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2009/03/12/tieas-cant-deliver-now/

Europe - Liechtenstein eases bank secrecy rules - .
March 12 (FT) - “Liechtenstein will go not so far as to abolish bank secrecy. But the principality will co-operate more fully with foreign tax authorities and will end the confusing distinction, also retained by Switzerland, between tax evasion, a civil offence, and tax fraud, a crime.”

The less you contribute to OECD budget the more influence you have on the policies
March 18 (Ethiques des places) - The Tagesanzeiger newspaper has reported that OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría provided a new list, on which financial centres with banking secrecy, such as Switzerland, Luxembourg and Austria, are optically separate from the tax havens. The blog provides a new list.

Swiss warn lifting secrecy ‘will take time’
March 16 (FT) - Switzerland has warned countries against expecting swift results from its decision last week to water down bank secrecy laws, saying it could take years for the necessary legislation to come into action. Hans-Rudolf Merz, finance minister, said renegotiating the country’s more than 70 double taxation treaties “won’t be so fast” as each must be approved individually by the country’s parliament.

International deals on sharing tax data could take years to complete
IHT (March 15) - Monaco succumbed to international pressure during the weekend, becoming the latest country to adopt O.E.C.D. standards for banking openness and information-sharing, but the United States and its main European allies in battling tax evaders faced what could be years of negotiation before they are able to proclaim victory.

Steinbrueck Says Swiss Announcement on Bank Secrecy Not Enough
March 15 (Bloomberg) -- German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck said pledges by countries including Switzerland to expand cooperation in tax cases are not enough and must be followed by action.
 
IRS giving tax relief to some Madoff investors
March 18  (AP) — The Internal Revenue Service issued guidelines Tuesday that will allow tax relief and refunds for some Bernard Madoff victims who were levied for investment earnings that turned out to be nonexistent. IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman told Congress the new guidelines are for taxpayers who have suffered losses from Ponzi investment schemes such as the massive Madoff swindle.

Tax Me If You Can
March 14 (WSJ) - The movie industry, which is pleading in state capitals across the country for most-favored-tax status. Hollywood productions are highly mobile and can film just about anywhere. So they have taken to shopping around the country -- and the world -- for the most lucrative tax avoidance deal.

Luxembourg Conforms To OECD Guidelines,
March 18 (tax-news.com) - Luxembourg’s Budget and Treasury Minister Luc Frieden announced on March 13 that Luxembourg intends to conclude OECD-convention double tax treaties with OECD member states, thereby providing for the exchange of information in cases where there is solid evidence of the perpetration of a tax crime.

Q+A-Tax havens' moves to avoid blacklist
March 13 (Reuters) - Switzerland, Austria and Luxembourg all sought ways on Friday to fend off a global crackdown on tax evasion by making concessions on bank secrecy. Here are questions and answers on their moves and how they compare to demands by other governments.
 
Hong Kong, Singapore Face Scrutiny on Tax Policies
March 13 (WSJ) - Both have had simmering tensions with major trading partners on the issue of personal financial disclosure, particularly in the realm of private banking. Singapore has about $300 billion under management.
 
Senate Finance chairman has 'all but rejected' Levin's anti tax haven bill
March 13 (Royal Gazette) - Robert Bauman, editor of The Sovereign Society Offshore A-Letter, said that chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Senator Max Baucus) had all but rejected Senator Carl Levin's radical anti-tax haven legislation.

Liechtenstein's LGT exits trust business
March 10 (AP) - Stung by accusations that it helped rich foreigners engage in tax evasion, Liechtenstein's LGT Group said Tuesday it is exiting the trust and fiduciary businesses for good.
 
Liechtenstein's VP Bank reports net outflows
Mar 10 (Reuters) - Liechtenstein's VP Bank said it had net outflows of 1.3 billion Swiss francs ($1.13 billion) and that 2009 would be another difficult year as it predicted more pressure on the country's banking secrecy.
 
Britain Signs Tax Information Sharing Accord With Jersey
March 10 (Bloomberg) - March 10 (Bloomberg) -- The island of Jersey bowed to political pressure and agreed to share information with the British government on individuals seeking to evade tax, becoming the last U.K. offshore tax haven to offer greater disclosure.
 
OECD Prepares Tax-Disclosure List for G-20 Meeting (Update1)
March 11 (Bloomberg) -- The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said it has prepared a list of countries that it says don’t fully meet its standards of information disclosure on tax matters, including Austria, Luxembourg and Switzerland.
 
Jersey visitors on 12th - 13th March - Wish You Were Here
March 9 (TJN) - On 12th/13th March 2009 civil society organisations from across Europe, including some of the largest economic justice coalitions, will be visiting Jersey. This provides essential background and links, and an invitation.

Inequality and the spirit level
March 8 (TJN) – Book review from The Economist. "Within the rich world, where destitution is rare, countries where incomes are more evenly distributed have longer-lived citizens and lower rates of obesity, delinquency, depression and teenage pregnancy than richer countries where wealth is more concentrated."

The cat is out of the bag
March 8 (TJN) - Gordon Brown also has a choice: to act against tax havens or limit himself to empty rhetoric. He would like to be thought of as a long-standing champion of global financial regulation. The reality is that, by what happens at the G-20 summit, he will be judged a late convert at best, otherwise a hypocrite."

Bono and the tax justice debate in Ireland
The controversey surrounding U2's tax affairs has generated a huge discussion in Ireland on economic justice issues. Jamie Drummond, from Bono's agency DATA, has stirred the pot by trying to shift the focus away from tax avoidance to tax evasion, but the public response suggests that this ploy has not worked - as the following selection of letters suggests.

Sanctions on secrecy jurisdictions
March 6 (Tax Research) - I think there are two forms of sanction available. One is the head on attack like the Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act. Germany is also looking at arrangements like this in draft legislation published in January. The second group might be described as ‘work-round’ sanctions: measures that will neuter the impact of tax havens with out directly confronting them.

Brown does a U-turn on tax havens with blacklist
March 8 (Observer) – Gordon Brown is preparing to unveil a blacklist of harmful tax havens to be published before the crucial London G20 meeting next month. The list is expected to include offshore centres linked to Britain, including the Cayman Islands and Bermuda.

Tax haven bankers vow to keep their secrets
March 6 (Euronews) - Three major European countries with banking secrecy laws have warned against any attempt by the G20 group of nations to place them on a tax haven blacklist. A G20 summit is due next month and tackling tax avoidance is on the agenda, but Switzerland, Luxembourg and Austria are not members. They have vowed to protect their practices

UBS says had 47K accounts for Americans
March 4 (AP) -- UBS AG now says it had about 47,000 accounts held by Americans who didn't pay U.S. taxes on their assets, but Switzerland's biggest bank is providing the names of only 300 American clients to the U.S. government in a showdown over secrecy.

Jersey raises floodwalls as tax storm brews
March 8 (Reuters) - Jersey's village-like capital features many of the brands typically found in any British town: Ladbrokes betting shop, retailer Marks and Spencer and Boots the drugstore. But step down a side street on this plush island off the French coast, and almost every other building bears the name of a private equity, wealth management, or banking firm.

Credit Suisse targets wealthiest Mexicans
March 5 (Reuters) - Credit Suisse said on Thursday it is launching a private banking business in Mexico to manage investments for the country's rich, a segment it says is growing, despite a slumping economy.

Swiss keen to decouple secrecy and tax evasion:
Match 7 (Swissinfo) - Finance Minister Hans-Rudolf Merz has issued the strongest hint yet that Switzerland might change its view on tax evasion in order to preserve banking secrecy.

Brits looking for possible Madoff money laundering
March 6 (Newsday) -  British fraud investigators are probing the activities of accused Wall Street scammer Bernard Madoff's London office for possible money laundering, a law enforcement source said Thursday.  
 
Panama a poster child for tax evasion
March 6  (Panama Star) - The attack on Panama’s tax haven reputation and with it the potential Free Trade Agreement (FTA) continues. A civil organization called Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch Division has joined the list of Panama’s detractors and sent a letter to the US House of Representative on March 3, in which it launched a vitriolic attack against the FTA between the two countries.
 
Solicitor Held in U.S. Charge of Involvement in Nigeria Bribery
March 6 (Guardian) - A British solicitor was arrested yesterday over allegations that he broke US anti-corruption laws by channelling millions of pounds in bribes to Nigerian officials to win construction contracts.

Obama bid to stamp out tax havens
March 5 (Guardian) - The world's most secretive tax havens are to be prised open after Barack Obama's new administration endorsed far-reaching legislation to crack down on them.
 
UBS Executives May Face Prosecution in Tax Evasion Inquiry
March 5 (New York Times) - In testimony before a Senate subcommittee, a top Justice Department official said the agency might prosecute senior UBS executives as part of its investigation into whether the Swiss bank helped scores of wealthy Americans evade billions of dollars in taxes.
 
US charges two Britons with bribes in KBR venture
March 5 (Reuters) - Two British citizens face charges of bribing Nigerian officials as part of a joint venture that included KBR Inc to build liquefied natural gas facilities, the U.S. Justice Department said on Thursday.  Jeffrey Tesler was arrested in London on Thursday, the same day as the indictment handed down in February was made public, the department said. Former KBR employee Wojciech Chodan, of England, was being sought on a U.S. arrest warrant. The department said it was seeking extradition of the suspects, and forfeiture of $130 million from the two.  KBR, a former engineering subsidiary of Halliburton Co pleaded guilty last month to federal charges that it paid $180 million in bribes to Nigerian officials.
 
Morgan Stanley’s Chinese Land Scandal
March 1 (NY Times) - SHANGHAI — Since the height of China’s property boom, Morgan Stanley’s huge real estate deals here have been the envy of the industry. Then, scandal hit.  Last month, with property prices here and elsewhere in free fall, the bank dropped a bombshell: in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, it said it had fired an executive in its China real estate division after uncovering evidence that he might have violated the United States Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which bars American business people from bribing foreign officials.
 
IRS Eyes Wider Net to Catch Tax Cheats
March 4 (Reuters) - The U.S. Internal Revenue Service may team up with other governments to crack down on tax cheats as it faces pressure to toughen rules on Americans who try to conceal income at offshore tax havens, a senior IRS lawyer told Reuters on Tuesday.
 
EU says it could sanction tax havens
March 4 (AP) - The European Union could sanction tax haven states that refuse to share information on tax evasion and money laundering, the EU's Commission President said Wednesday. Jose Manuel Barroso said "it should be possible for us to apply penalties" against countries that don't cooperate with European tax authorities or financial supervisors. "All financial entities should be subject to a certain degree of  supervision." He said the EU would propose new rules on banking supervision by the end of May and new laws for hedge funds, private equity funds and executive payments by the end of April.
 
UBS Case Shows Need to Bolster Offshore Bank Laws
March 4 (Bloomberg) -- UBS AG’s refusal to surrender the names of as many as 52,000 Americans suspected of using Switzerland’s largest bank to avoid taxes shows that a U.S. tax treaty with that country is ineffective, a top Senate Democrat said.

US names Antigua and Barbuda among major money laundering jurisdictions
March 3 (Antigua Sun) – The United States has named four Caribbean Community (Caricom) member states among 59 major money laundering jurisdictions. In its 2009 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, the State Department identified Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Belize and Haiti among “jurisdictions of primary concern.”
 
BAE Lobbyist Arrested on Jet Bribery Probe Placed in Custody
March 1 (Bloomberg) - A BAE Systems Plc lobbyist arrested in Austria on suspicion of bribing officials in Hungary and the Czech Republic to win contracts for Europe’s biggest defense company has been held in custody.

Salmond’s top economic adviser uses Cayman Islands tax haven
Mar 3 (Sunday Herald) – The chief economic adviser of Alex Salmond, the First Minister of Scotland, is at the centre of a tax avoidance row after it emerged that his investment group's hedge fund is running businesses from a tax haven.

Challenge of recession to aggressive transfer pricing
Feb 6 (The Hindu) - Across the globe, there has been a substantial increase in transfer pricing (TP) audits and disputes, observes Mr Rohan K. Phatarphekar, Executive Director & National Head, Global Transfer Pricing Services, KPMG India.

Bribery and corruption
Mar 1 (Thought Leader) - Why corruption became institutionalized at Siemens.

It's hypocrisy to leave British tax havens open
Observer weighs in on the case for G-20 to tackle secrecy jurisdictions:

President Obama's First Budget: Not Perfect, But a Massive Improvement Over the Recent Past


March (CTJ) - Thursday, President Obama sent his budget blueprint to Congress.  While many of the details remain to be seen, it's the most progressive budget we've seen in years.  It's also a more honest budget than the last administration ever proposed.

Tax haven for German ICT firms to disappear
Nov 12 (The Register) - Does Norderfriedrichskoog really need an IT company to serve a community of just 47 inhabitants and a dozen thatched homesteads 200 kilometres north of Hamburg ? Well, yes. According to the Offshore Financial Review, it is the world's most unfashionable tax haven. The village (with only two streets) levies no trade tax, thanks to a decree issued 300 years ago by a local duke.



UBS has £37bn from UK clients
Feb 25 (Tax Research) - The wealth-management arm of UBS, under fire in the United States for its part in a multibillion-dollar tax evasion scandal, has more than 20,000 clients in the UK who have entrusted £37bn to the battered Swiss bank. Asked whether UBS faces investigation for tax abuse in the UK, a spokeswoman said she was unaware of any inquiry.

We will put people first, not bankers
Feb 22 (Observer) By Gordon Brown - More evidence that Britain's promise to crack down on offshore finance is a ruse. This should not be at the cost of Britain hosting big international banks. There is no room for parochialism or protectionism in our model of the future. Global financial flows and liquid capital markets have brought massive benefits to our economy since the dawn of global trade centuries ago. We are not evacuating, but rather entrenching, our place right at the heart of global commerce, finance and trade.

Too Big Not to Fail?
Feb 23 (The Nation) - By TJN’s Jim Henry. A romp through the unfolding crisis, with much new data and analysis. By February 2008, by my reckoning, banks and insurance companies have already absorbed at least $817 billion of government capital injections, $251 billion of toxic asset purchases, $2.6 trillion of government loans and $5.9 trillion of government debt guarantees. If we added the guarantees for once quasi-private entities like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the loan guarantees double to $10.9 trillion. To call this "capitalism" is to have Ayn Rand and Friedrich von Hayek turning somersaults in the crypt. Time and again, this pathological form of pro-bank development has jeopardized the prosperity, stability and innovation of the small businesses, inventors and would-be savers who are the backbone of market economies. Bank-dominated political economies don't really deserve to be called "capitalism," since big bankers have never really been entrepreneurs who are content to stick to the capitalist rules of the game.

JERSEY IS A TAX HAVEN
Feb 25 (Tax Research) - This isn’t new. But it’s worth airing again. It’s a  paper I co-wrote submitted to the US Senate in 2007 on the tax haven activities of Jersey, point by point rebutting their claims to be well administered and to not be a tax haven. It concludes:

Lawsuit filed against UBS Chairman, Swiss regulators
Feb 25 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Monday gave UBS until April 30 to file its response to a case launched by the U.S. IRS. Wegelin said the U.S. and British governments, which have been vocal on Switzerland, were keeping quiet about "financial swamps" in their own backyards, which it said include the Channel Islands, the Caribbean and Delaware.

Swiss Ideas on how to save bank secrecy / Les idées pour sauver le secret bancaire
Feb 25 (Le Temps) – Swiss parties debate how to save bank secrecy. Three ideas predominate. First, to abolish the distinction between tax fraud and tax evasion for foreign, though not for Swiss, capital. Second, study the possibility of having the EU Savings Tax Directive extended to other countries such as the US.Third, enshrine bank secrecy in the Swiss constitution. In French.

Auf der Suche nach dem Fluchtgeld
Feb 23 (SudDeutsche Zeitung) – A long interview with TJN’s John Christensen (translation)

The Oligarchs' Escape Plan
Feb 17 (Counterpunch) - Prof. Michael Hudson looks at similarities between past IMF bailouts of élites in developing countries, and current US bailout. And much more.

Dubai Gets $10 Billion Bailout to Ease Debt
Feb 23 (WSJ) - `The United Arab Emirates said Sunday it will spend $10 billion to bail out the once-highflying tax haven emirate of Dubai, whose huge construction and financial-sector expansion plans became a symbol of boom times, and now of a world-wide downturn.

Meltdown: Regulators to Tackle Tax Defaulters
Feb 25 (ThisDay Nigeria) - Yesterday’s meeting of the Financial Services Regulation Coordinating Committee (FSRCC)  . . . sources revealed that  matters relating to taxes were discussed.
 In fact, the meeting was said to have considered  removal of directors of banks and companies that  had been evading  or avoiding  taxes.


Vatican demands closure of tax havens
Feb 23 (Economic Times) - The official statement from the Vatican, called an encyclical, is expected to ask for a closure of such tax havens. The encyclical is scheduled to be released on March 18 by Pope Benedict XVI.

Labour's a bit late with the Swiss roll
Feb 22 (Observer) - Alistair Darling and Gordon Brown have suddenly launched an unlikely crusade against Switzerland. Labour has only jumped now because it finds itself in danger of being completely outflanked.

France says U.S. warming to its tax haven policy
PARIS (Reuters) - French Economy Minister Christine Lagarde said on Monday her U.S. counterpart, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, was moving closer to European countries' position on tax havens.

UBS - shouldn’t they be shut down in the UK now as an improper person to offer financial advice?
Feb 23 (Tax Research) - UBS is a bank now proven to be guilty of systemic fraud. The US Department for Justice is suggesting it assisted at least 52,000 people evade their US tax obligations. How many cases in the UK? Who is officially asking? Who is investigating? Who is reporting?

McCreevy has lost control of brief, says critic
February 23 (Irish Independent) - The head of a European political party said EU Commissioner Charlie Mr McCreevy was resisting regulation of the financial markets and that Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso had now taken over his brief.

The sordid legacy of the end of empire
Feb 22 (Observer) - VS Naipaul's essays in The Overcrowded Barracoon: Naipaul had toured the West Indies in the late Sixties as they were considering breaking away from the British Empire, tiny colonies "set adrift, part of the jetsam of an empire," he wrote. How were they going to make a living? The Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London replied. The fragments of empire, those specks of land with apparently no viable future, would survive by turning themselves into tax havens.

Darling denounces Swiss secrecy
Feb 22 (Observer) - Alistair Darling has launched a blistering attack on Switzerland, suggesting its banks' refusal to end centuries of secrecy is "intolerable".

A Securities Transaction Tax Could Raise Revenue -- But Why Not Simply Remove the Loopholes for Investors in the Existing Income Tax?


Feb 21 (CTJ) - On a bill that would impose a 0.25% tax on securities transactions to pay for Wall Street bailouts. There's another proposal we like better. Congress should simply eliminate the loophole in the income tax for long-term capital gains and corporate stock dividends, which subjects these forms of income to a top rate of just 15 percent.

Added to our quotations page:
The true measure of a career is to be able to be content, even proud, that you succeeded through your own endeavors without leaving a trail of casualties in your wake.
Alan Greenspan, June 1999

US Senate delays tax haven hearing over UBS-paper
Feb 22 (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations has delayed a hearing on tax haven banks and a bid to get details of U.S. clients with Swiss accounts, to allow the events of the last week to be "digested", according to an unnamed source.

European G-20 Nations Seek Crackdown on Tax Havens (Update1)
Feb. 22 (Bloomberg) -- European leaders said they will crack down on tax havens as they seek to boost transparency and apply uniform rules governing financial markets to stem the global crisis.

Les paradis fiscaux en ligne de mire des Européens
Feb 22 (20 minutes) –Angela Merkel asks for an “ambitious result” from the G-20, notably asking for sanctions against tax havens. Sarkozy: “We want to close down tax havens . . . we want material results, with a list of tax havens and consequences.” Translated from the original French. 

Germany Investigates Liechtenstein Prince Over Taxes, FTD Says
Feb. 20 (Bloomberg) -- State prosecutors in Germany are investigating Prince Max von und zu Liechtenstein over the evasion of German taxes, Financial Times Deutschland reported.

United States Asks Court to Enforce Summons for UBS Swiss Bank Account Records
Feb 19 (US DoJ) - The US government has filed a lawsuit today in Miami against UBS asking the court to order the bank to disclose to the IRS the identities of the bank's U.S. customers with secret Swiss accounts. According to the lawsuit, as many as 52,000 U.S. customers hid their UBS accounts from the government in violation of the tax laws; 20,000 involved securities, and 32,000 involved cash.

Bank Asks Offshore Clients to Sign Tax Forms
Feb 17 (NYTimes) - Credit Suisse, under a widening investigation into foreign banks with offshore private banking services, is working to avert a potential standoff with federal authorities like the one faced by the rival Swiss bank UBS.

A Swiss Bank Is Set to Open Its Secret Files
Feb 18 (NYTimes) - In the hush-hush world of Swiss banking, the unthinkable is happening: secrets are spilling into the open.
“The Swiss are saying that this is the end of Swiss banking as they knew it,” said Jack Blum, an offshore tax specialist. “Nobody will trust the security of the Swiss bank account.”

Brown targets Switzerland in global tax haven crackdown
Feb 19 (Guardian) - A worldwide crackdown on tax havens, from Switzerland to the Cayman Islands, will be spearheaded by Gordon Brown as the world's richest nations use the global economic downturn to close loopholes that are costing them hundreds of billions in lost revenues. See also “Fox to lead global effort to tighten henhouse safety.”

UK tax-take to reveal depth of crisis
Feb 18 (FT) - A dramatic deterioration in the public finances is expected to be revealed on Thursday morning as official figures show extremely weak tax revenues in the crucial month of January and lay bare the cost of the government’s capital injections into Britain’s banks.

Swiss distraction on tax havens
Feb 20 (Guardian) - Gordon Brown's decision to target Switzerland on tax dodging is a diversion to distract from his failure to take action against Britain's tax havens (Brown targets Switzerland, 19 February). The UK plays a major role in helping companies dodge the tax they owe. By John Hilary. Just as we wrote in Fox to lead global effort to tighten henhouse safety.
Closing the gap
Feb 14 (Guardian) - Whatever one's choice of euphemism for the now near-epidemic engineering of minimal taxes, there is no mistaking the harm. Here are some things Messrs Brown and Darling need to consider.

A climate of private and state secrecy
Feb 14 (Guardian) – Editorial wrapping up its Tax Gap series. Identifying companies that have not disclosed tax haven business as required, criticising the Revenue for its secrecy. Nor will the Revenue identify which of the "big four" accountants are peddlers of the tax avoidance schemes compulsorily disclosed to Whitehall.

Billionaire Oil Man & West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy Have Their Say about Tax Incentives
Feb13 (CTJ) - Billionaire George Kaiser, head of Kaiser-Francis Oil Co., during testimony, "Kaiser said he could "say unequivocally" that the tax subsidies in question have never influenced his companies' decisions to drill or restore any well in Oklahoma." Kaiser even joked, "In fact, I may lose my day job as a result of my testimony."

Reaction to the Tax Gap series
Feb 14 (Guardian) - Some great quote culled from the Guardian investigations. Find lots more quotes here front_content.php?idcat=93

Behind tax avoidance lies an ideology that has had its day. We must end it
Feb 14 (Guardian) - Neoconservatism has collapsed. The need for the state should now be evident to all - and that includes big companies. What is most dismal is the scale. If we cannot slay tax avoidance now, we never will.

The US Tax Gap
A new report, regarding the $345bn estimated US Tax Gap figure for 2001. " it is doubtful that the $345 billion estimate includes the entire international tax gap. . .. it is unlikely that hidden offshore income is comprehensively included in the IRS tax gap estimates.

Noble Corporation to Hold Shareholders' Meeting to Vote On Proposed Change in Place of Incorporation
Feb. 11 (PRNewswire) - Noble Corporation announces it will decide whether to change its parent’s incorporation from the Cayman Islands to Switzerland.

Diageo tax settlement - trebles all round?
Feb 13 (Guardian blog) – An investigation concluded last November on terms that led Diageo's advisers to hold a champagne celebration. Nobody knew what those terms were but one clue emerged in the company's half-year results.

Darling offers tax abuse pledge but few words on Lloyds
Feb 13 (Guardian) - The UK chancellor, Alistair Darling, promised further action to stop corporate tax abuse when challenged by MPs. But he would not be drawn on whether the government knew about the alleged schemes before bailing out the bank.

The Swiss whistleblower
The Guardian interviews the whistleblower Rudolf Elmer at his hideaway in Mauritius. Worked in the financial industry for 33 years. Exposure to cayman, guernsey, other islands, made me think, and I started to understand what’s really going on – it’s a major problem. The future of society is at risk. Only the tip of the iceberg is prosecuted – but there is a system behind it, and that is the frightening part of it.

Taxation: Personal Savings
UK Parliament (Feb 12) - Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much tax has been repatriated to the UK by each country adopting the withholding tax option under the EU Savings Tax Directive.

VAT: Channel Islands
UK parliament (Feb 12) - Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the effect on value added tax (VAT) revenue of VAT-free goods coming through the Channel Islands into the UK in each of the last three financial years.

Trouble in paradise: calls for Britain to seize control of Turks and Caicos
Feb13 (Times) - With no income tax, an array of unspoilt beaches and the security offered by its status as a British dependency, the Turks and Caicos Islands have become a haven for celebrities and their bank accounts. The idyllic image has been severely tarnished by an inquiry into allegations of political corruption. The claims are so serious that some observers believe that the British Government will now have to consider seizing back full control of the islands.

Half of all CDOs of ABS failed
Feb 10 (FT) - Almost half of all the complex credit products ever built out of slices of other securitised bonds have now defaulted, according to analysts, and the proportion rises to more than two-thirds among deals created at the peak of the cycle.

Rare glimpse into offshore world of big money and low taxes
Feb 13 (Guardian) - One of the more fascinating sets of records disclosed by Rudolf Elmer is, he says, the confidential investor list of an offshore fund run by the Carlyle Group.

Letters
Feb 13 (Guardian) - My home buildings insurer has just informed me that they have relocated to Dublin. I'm relocating my business with them back to an insurer which is registered in the UK. 
Sid Fewster Crickhowell. And more like this.

14,000 tax avoidance schemes and counting...
Feb12 (Guardian) - At the last count, since rules requiring the disclosure of tax avoidance arrangements to HMRC were introduced in 2004 there had been around 14,000 such schemes. Or so we thought. Now it seems these might be far from the limit of the problem, as many "promoters" of schemes are refusing to play the game.

Tax avoidance laws: the spirit v the letter
Feb 13 (Guardian) - Defending his bank's cross-border tax avoidance scheme before the Treasury select committee yesterday, the Lloyds Banking Group chief executive, Eric Daniels, said: "I would tell you that we do not do anything other than adhere to the spirit and letter of the law". The letter, sure. But the spirit? Text of court documents here and here.

Daggers drawn: Conflict at HBOS
Feb 12 (Guardian) - Paul Moore, asked what prompted him to break a gagging order he agreed to as part of his settlement terms with HBOS, the former KPMG partner says he has been greatly motivated by his faith.

Lloyds faces new loans allegations as MPs confront banks on alleged tax avoidance
Feb 12 (Guardian) - MPs yesterday confronted banking chiefs from Lloyds and Barclays with Guardian disclosures that they are alleged to practise massive tax avoidance schemes.

Shifting profits across borders
Feb 12 (Guardian) - 'Transfer pricing' is the biggest tax avoidance scheme of all. The government must insist on companies being more transparent.

G20 nears deal on bank capital, tax havens-report
Feb 11 (Reuters) - Group of 20 countries discussing reforms to the global financial system plan to increase capital requirements for banks and take a tough stance against tax havens, according to Germany's Handelsblatt newspaper.

Vincent Cable responds to your comments
Feb 12 (Guardian) - The Liberal Democrat shadow chancellor replies to comments left on his article about corporate tax avoidance

Switzerland is not a haven for tax evaders
Feb 12 (Guardian) - We believe in privacy, and our approach encourages a high degree of taxpayer honesty, says Urs Roth, chief executive officer of the Swiss Bankers Association. See also TaxAnalysts taking a different view, here.

Tax glossary
The world of tax is full of confusing technical terms. Here are the most important and what the Guardian means by them. Tax evasion, avoidance, planning and gap.

Die Wochenzeitung
TJN’s President, Bruno Gurtner’s opinion piece in Switzerland’s recent referendum on taxing foreigners. No English translation available.

For Investing With Madoff, Private Foundations Could Face Tax Fines
Feb 11 (NYT) - Foundations that lost billions of dollars investing with Bernard L. Madoff have another reason to fret: they could be socked with sizable fines for failing to exercise sound judgment.

CTJ Ranks the Six Worst Tax Cuts in the Senate Stimulus Bill


Feb 10 (CTJ) - The economic stimulus bill the Senate approved today includes several tax cuts not in the stimulus bill approved by the House of Representatives two weeks ago and which should be excluded from the final bill. 
Senators mostly removed government spending that economists believe will stimulate the economy -- like aid to state governments, school construction, food stamps -- while they left in most of the regressive tax cuts. A new report from Citizens for Tax Justice.

Ahoy there, me hearties - all aboard for a life of luxury
Feb 10 (Jersey Evening Post) - Jersey should consider branching out into the increasingly lucrative field of international piracy. John Christensen should be the shoo-in chairman of the Offshore Pirates for Justice campaign. With tongue firmly in cheek.

Lloyds faces accusations of tax avoidance
Feb 11 (Guardian) - Huge loans to American financial institutions were disguised as commercial investments for tax purposes, it is alleged in a case against the bank being brought by HM Revenue & Customs, a department of the Treasury. As a result, the money from the deals was treated differently for tax purposes on each side of the Atlantic.

Digging deeper into Barclays' tax tricks
Feb 11 (Guardian) - On Friday the Guardian exposed some of Barclays' weird and wonderful tax avoidance schemes. Now for some numbers from the bank's accounts hinting at even wackier arrangements.

Show us the money
Feb 11 (Guardian) - While a minister, I criticised EU banking secrecy at a seminar attended by my Luxembourg opposite number. He asked: "Have you ever examined UK trust law? All our bankers and financial lawyers say that if you really, really want to hide money, go to London and set up a trust." Repeats about an old canard about Swiss bank secrecy.

Reader response: lessons from the valleys
Feb 11 (Guardian) - The HMRC's approach to training and retaining tax investigators has echoes of the coal industry

Banks and tax avoidance: HMRC responds
Feb 11 (Guardian) - To put it simply, the securitisation vehicles that were so profitable that the banks couldn't generate enough of them were often such good deals because of the tax avoidance central to them.

Charity's registration 'annulled' after $56M goes to tax shelter
In what appears to be a first, Canada's national charity regulator has admitted that it made a mistake in approving the registration of a Toronto charity. One result of that mistake? Most of the $56.5 million donated over a recent two-year period went into a bogus tax shelter scheme, rather than funding charitable projects.

Treasury defends appointment of executive with links to tax-haven
Feb 10 (Herald) - The Treasury yesterday defended appointing a former trustee of a bank in one of the world's most secretive tax havens to oversee the taxpayer's multi-billion stake in bailed-out banks. See what Richard Murphy had to say about it, here.

Why Malaysia is seen as a tax haven
Feb 10 (Malaysia Kini) – Or why Malaysia might be the next rising tax haven in Asia.

Recession worst for 100 years, says Balls
Feb 10 (FT) - Britain is facing the “most serious global recession for over 100 years”, Ed Balls, Gordon Brown’s closest ally, has warned in an admission that the financial crisis could be worse than the Great Depression of the 1930s.

The Isle of Man - still subsidised by the UK to be a tax haven
Feb 9 (Tax Research) - I last reviewed the  Isle of Man’s subsidy from the UK as a tax haven in tax year 2004/05. Then  I estimated it to be as high as £270 million a year. The VAT subsidy alone was some £233 million a year.

Swiss bank secrecy will disappear quickly
Le secret bancaire suisse va rapidement disparaître"
Feb 9 (Le Tribune) - An interview with Former Geneva Betrand Bertossa, who believes that outside pressure will put an end to Swiss bank secrecy, and soon. All the tools are available to Europe to act; what’s missing is political will. Praises Obama’s Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act, and criticism for “the lack of co-operation of British justice – “a great duplicity between what it says and what it does.”  In French, Rough web translation here.

Low-tax, low-cost flight to Dublin
Feb 10 (Guardian) - The latest ploy by big businesses anxious to avoid UK tax, is to claim that they have changed residence to low-tax Ireland. But when the Guardian went in search of new company headquarters on the Liffey, we found there sometimes seemed to be a touch of blarney involved in the claims.

Tracking down the addresses of the Irish headquarters
Feb 10 (Guardian) - The Tax gap reporting team goes in search of those elusive relocated headquarters

Court rulings and lobbying help big firms pay less tax
Feb 10 (Guardian) - The threat to relocate to Dublin is only one of the weapons used by big business in their campaigns to pay less tax. Legal challenges are potent too.

Africa's Bane: Tax Havens, Capital Flight and the Corruption Interface
Feb 9 (TJN) - Spain's prestigious research institute, the Real Instituto Elcano, has just published the following peer reviewed paper by TJN's John Christensen.

Zurich voters abolish tax breaks for rich foreigners
Feb 9 (TJN) - Zurich is to do away with tax privileges for wealthy foreigners, a policy which has attracted a host of super-rich celebrities to the canton. Nearly 53 per cent of voters came out in favour of a proposal by centre-left political parties scrapping tax perks – in the first ballot held on the issue.

Bruno Gurtner's report to the TJN Council Meeting in Belém on 28th January 2009
Feb 9 (TJN) – The the text of the Report by Swiss economist Bruno Gurtner, Chair of TJN's Global Board of Directors, to the Tax Justice Council Meeting held in Belém, Brazil, on 28th January 2009:

Director's Report to the Tax Justice Council Meeting
Feb 9 (TJN) - Text of the Report submitted by TJN International Secretariat's director, John Christensen, to the Tax Justice Council Meeting held in Belém, Brazil, on 28th January 2009:

Dutch Foreign Ministry evades tax in poor countries - NRC
Feb 8 (TJN) - The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs has made payments to offshore bank accounts to pay for the housing of Dutch diplomats in developing countries. The Ministry has illegally evaded host country taxes and foreign exchange regulations, according to NRC Handelsblad.

The City of London Corporation: the state within a state
Feb7 (TJN) - The City is not a London borough, and unbeknownst to almost everybody outside the UK (and to most British people) it has its own distinctive political representative body, the City of London Corporation, which in addition to holding some rather unusual powers - such as the power to organise its own police force - is probably the most powerful and self-interested political lobby in the world.

Dutch parliament scrutinizes new tax treaties
Feb 7 (TJN) - In the Netherlands in the past, new tax treaties used to be silently approved in parliament. This is no longer the case. Two opposition parties have now requested that two tax treaties with Bahrain and Qatar in 2008 are discussed and explicitly approved by parliament before the treaties enter into force.

It's time to come clean on taxes
Feb 6 (TJN) - Richard Murphy, Senior Adviser to TJN, has just published another comment article in The Guardian. On accounting, TJN and much more.

Tax, corporate responsibility and the UK's Cooperative Bank
Feb 6 (TJN) - The Cooperative Bank, TJN’s bank, has an Ethical Policy Statement on tax and business, which reads as follows: “We will not finance organisations that take an irresponsible approach to the payment of tax in the least developed countries.”

UK fraud office halts Kenya probe
Feb 6 (TJN) - The UK's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has terminated its probe into the "Anglo Leasing affair", one of Kenya's biggest corruption cases. The SFO said it halted the probe after Kenya failed to produce evidence to try suspects. But the Kenyan justice minister said British laws favour those involved in corruption.

New UK parliament motions - on banks and accountants
Feb 5 (TJN) – Following one Early Day Motion in the UK parliament, calling for a wholesale review of the tax system, two more have appeared, on banks, and on accountants. The first was based on research by TJN's Richard Murphy.

 From the high street to a tax haven
Feb 9 (Guardian) - Boots the Chemist has taken its headquarters from Nottingham to the canton of Zug, Switzerland. A private equity company loaded it with debt, whose interest payments are so large that they have wiped out any profit in the UK and all the tax that used to go with it. Also featuring Gibraltar and Luxembourg.

The electronics giant and the Manx connection
Feb 9 (Guardian) – The electronics retailer Dixons uses the laws of the Isle of Man to its advantage. With interactive explanation here. http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/interactive/2009/feb/09/1

UK plc must do its bit for broken Britain
Feb 9 (Guardian) - Britain has a rubbish infrastructure and a substandard workforce, as corporate lobbies point out. But it is right that business makes a contribution to the infrastructure on which it relies. To listen to corporate lobbying groups, you would imagine companies are happy to do their bit but are forced into offshore arrangements by the demands of a punitive tax regime.

The tax gap debate: Principles, what principles? Another KPMG update
Feb 9 (Guardian) - The 'set of principles' that KPMG's head of tax says governs the firm's approach to tax planning didn't turn up over the weekend. I'm now told by KPMG's press office that there is "an internal discussion to see if we can provide something".

The tax gap debate: Are aggressive tax avoidance schemes a thing of the past?
Feb 9 (Guardian) - Most of the big four accountancy firms claim the promotion of aggressive tax avoidance schemes, as reported by the Guardian on Saturday, is a thing of the past. Whether you believe that or not, you can't trust their exponents not to return to them if the conditions are right. Long-term answers are needed. Hit them in their wallets?

Loophole logic
Feb 9 (Guardian) - If tax avoidance is legal, is there a problem? The debate has touched a nerve among Guardian bloggers

The system must change
Feb 9 (Guardian) – A view from the other side. Rather than knock firms for minimising their tax bills, we should focus on reforming the rules.

The poor take the biggest hit
Feb 9 (Guardian editorial) - It has been called the "ugliest chapter in global economic affairs since slavery". Of all the victims of the tax scams we are investigating, those that suffer most are in the poorest countries.

Andorra wants to get off tax haven list.
Feb 8 (AFP) - The head of the Government of Andorra, Albert Pintat, said the principality wants to get "off the list of tax havens” after French President Nicolas Sarkozy said he wants to" review relations " with Andorra. In French.

Creative accountants
Feb 7 (Guardian) - On 18 February 2002, Ernst & Young mounted a confidential slideshow for Nikki Maynard and her tax team at Prudential, the big insurance company. It was a sales pitch. Project Toms ("tax-efficient off-market swaps," outlawed in 2004) was one of the most notable of the avoidance schemes peddled by the "big four" accountancy firms. Accountants were looking at making £15m out of their ingenious "opportunity". The government faced losing a total £1bn.

Gilt-edged profits for profession's 'big four'
Feb 7 (Guardian) - On the "big four" - KPMG, PWC, E&Y and Deloitte. Revenue chief Dave Hartnett described the previous E&Y regime as "probably the most aggressive, creative, abusive provider" of avoidance schemes. A 2005 internal HMRC study concluded that 50% of the big four's tax fees came from "commercial tax planning" and "artificial avoidance schemes", suggesting they bring in around £1bn a year. Internal emails: “... perhaps a point to gloss over ..." or “please do NOT include reference to the dividend.” Unlike in the US, HMRC has never prosecuted any of the major accountants over their tax schemes.

Barclays: The bank that bought a pipeline
Feb 7 (Guardian) – Short video describing a deal between the Irish gas board and Barclays that deprived the British exchequer of £30m, regarding a pipeline under the Irish sea. The money went in a circle via a gas board company in Jersey, and a Barclays subsiidiary in the Isle of Man. The cash ended up at Barclays bank, but the UK had to give Barclays a £30m tax allowance.

Sheltering cash: the intricate schemes drawn up by KPMG
Feb 7 (Guardian) - A flock of over 60 British millionaires bought blueprints of an “eye-wateringly elaborate” KPMG device sheltering a total £156m. Cash was loaned to specially-created trusts, and the resultant IOUs then traded to banks at an apparent loss. The "loss" was claimed against personal tax bills. A tribunal ruled them “entirely artificial.” In the same year as another scheme where KPMG was accused of “acting out a charade” KPMG UK’s boss was paid £3.6m and given a knighthood for "services to accountancy". The separate US arm of this global accounting empire has seen criminal indictments. Not in Britain. "At some point," the IRS protested, "such conduct passes from clever accounting and lawyering, to theft from the people".

The tax gap debate: Labour MP makes a stand in Commons
Feb 7 (Guardian) - The long-standing anti-tax avoidance campaigner and Labour MP Austin Mitchell Austin Mitchell wants the government to decline aid to banks that conjure tax avoidance schemes. Mitchell calls on the government "to decline to provide financial support to banks engaged in devising, marketing and implementing tax avoidance schemes that have no economic substance".

Could the banks bail-out carry tax conditions?
Feb 7 (Guardian) - Is there any attempt being made to ensure that companies receiving assistance from British taxpayers are paying corporate tax back into the UK coffers? I would also argue that the same should apply to the individual tax affairs of their employees.

The tax gap debate: A call for more Revenue resources
Feb 7 (Guardian) - The shortage of tax investigators is a real problem - and it's getting worse. Stop firing and start hiring, a union says

What if tax avoidance had to be publicly disclosed?
With corporate reputations on the line, there would be a commercial pressure not to avoid tax. This is a job for government.

The tax gap debate: Principles, what principles? A KPMG update
Can you help us pin down the tax principles of the country's third biggest tax adviser?

Picture gallery: Zug, Switzerland
Feb 7 (Guardian) - Some pictures of one of the world centres of tax dodging (and crime.)

Labour candidates challenge City bankers' elite that runs Square Mile
 Feb 6 (Guardian) - Labour is to fight to break the grip of a bankers' elite controlling the City of London by putting up for the first time a slate of party candidates to run the Corporation of London, the unusual democratic body that lobbies on behalf of the City and runs the Square Mile's amenities. It will be the first time Labour has put up candidates for the corporation's governing body, but Labour believes the regulatory failure revealed by the credit crunch demands breaking the old boys' network running the City.

Brown's VAT cut was a mistake, says Sarkozy
Feb 7 (FT) - Relations between Britain and France nose-dived yesterday after the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, called Brown's VAT cut a "mistake" that had "absolutely not worked", while defending his decision to reflate the French economy with greater spending on infrastructure. On Tuesday the Dutch finance minister, Wouter Bos described Brown's VAT cut as "not a very wise thing to do", adding: "it does put pressure on other countries to do the same." There is irritation in Paris about Brown’s reluctance to consult with his EU counterparts and co-ordinate bank support measures and stimulus plans. Sarko: “Co-ordination is absolutely indispensable.”

Local blog sites shutting down
Feb 6 (Channelislandsforum) - Does anyone have concerns about the fact that local bloggers are going off air one by one? It has been alleged that some have been threatened. . . . . Anything about finance, rich people, taxes, big business, the establishment in the states etc if it is negative is not allowed to stand and this has been proved by the resultant bans of the people posting these type of posts under the pretext of trolling or upsetting others delicate feelings.
The top gamekeeper
Feb 6 (Guardian) - Gordon Brown as chancellor boasted to the CBI of applying "not just a light touch, but a limited touch" to financial regulation. He added: "The new model of regulation can be applied ... to the administration of tax." Now taxman Dave Hartnett has just 600 staff handling 700 groups of companies. Asked if Britain's tax collectors are outgunned by massed ranks of corporate accountants on the other side, he denies it. Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is in the process of making 25,000 job cuts. The impression of a lack of grip was exacerbated by the sale of the Revenue's own offices to a Bermuda-registered company, Mapeley.

Video: Dave Hartnett
An interview with Dave Hartnett of HMRC. How big is the problem? “the hardest schemes to unravel have been in the financial sector. We saw one . . that could have wiped out the whole UK tax base in the UK for the financial sector. The most signifiant progress made in recent years was the introduction of the disclosure regime for tax avoidance schemes in 2004 . . we now learn of tax schemes . . . much much faster, years faster . . . it has leveled the playing field between the tax planners and tax admiistration, the government can consider counter-measures within days.  

The top poacher
Feb 6 (Guardian) - Roger Jenkins is said to earn more than £40m heading the tax team at Barclays, said by some insiders to be Britain's most active legal tax avoider. Deals with corporate clients exploit mismatches in different countries' tax laws - so-called "tax arbitrage". Another banker said: “It's not a level playing-field when Barclays can price in tax avoidance on their products.”  With a short list of high-risk and low-risk companies.

The tax gap debate: more reaction, this time from KPMG
In a memo seen by the Guardian tax team, she notes that "the reporting and analysis is reasonably factually accurate" (hurrah!) and asks KPMG people to "avoid making any public comment yourself on the debate without referring back to the tax leadership team". In answer to the "premise" that "tax avoidance is unacceptable", she responds: "Tax is a business cost to be managed like any other. The striking thing about this defence is that it comes nowhere near to renouncing tax avoidance. On one, issue KPMG seems to feel particularly vulnerable. "We are expecting, at some stage, a reference to our Greenbox personal tax planning from seven or eight years ago". Really? Follow the series and find out.

The tax gap debate: how ethical can banks really be?
Co-operative Bank policy states: "We will not finance organisations that take an irresponsible approach to the payment of tax in the least developed countries. . . . One of the most effective ways that businesses can contribute to poverty reduction is to pay income tax in developing countries. The exploitation of tax havens by multinational corporations operating in the least developed countries is particularly harmful. But no bank, however ethical, could promise investment only in companies that don't avoid tax in ALL countries (not just developing countries) without disqualifying itself from lending to larger companies, so prevalent is tax avoidance.

Hedge funds: Offshore and off the radar?
Feb6 (Guardian) - Figures show that Man Group plc has paid just 14% of its pre-tax profits in corporation tax over the latest four years. Not the most patriotic contribution, you might think, by a company whose chief executive until 2007, Stanley Fink, has just become the co-treasurer of the Conservative party.

Letters
Feb 6 (Guardian) – Some letters. Following your revelations regarding their tax avoidance, I hope that the executives of these companies are conspicuous by their absence from the next honours list. Hutton Barton, Alnwick  --  If only British governments treated tax evasion as seriously as they do "benefit fraud". Perhaps they could provide a "rich tax cheats hotline" we could phone? Dr Pete Dorey, Cardiff University

What the finance industry plans for Jersey and Guernsey
Feb 5 (Tax Research) - I suggested Jersey and Guernsey would go bust. A commenter replied, suggesting they could make this up by raising GST to 10%. So there we have it: the insider’s confirmation of what some of us have been saying for a long time: that the GST in Jersey was never intended to stay at 3%.

Tome I - L'Argent invisible
Feb 5 (Dargaud) – A book by the journalist Denis Robert who wrote about the Clearstream scandal, and had his career (and life) ruined by libel suits. In French.

Switzerland suggests proposal to fight tax evasion
Feb 5 (IHT) - Switzerland would like to see withholding taxes on savings extended to other financial centers and possibly also to developing countries as a way to combat tax evasion, according to Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey. "We have always maintained that a withholding tax system is more effective in fighting tax evasion than the exchange of information." (TJN would beg to differ.) She also said Switzerland supported EU attempts to close loopholes in the current rules, which can be circumvented if savers put their money in financial vehicles like foundations or trusts.
 
In the country where tax evasion is no crime, Swiss private banks are unrepentant about siphoning off other governments' income
Feb 5 (Guardian) - Konrad Hummler, head of the Swiss private bankers' association, singles out Germany, France and Italy as "illegitimate states", whose citizens had no protection from excessive taxes. "We are so allergic to the Germans... because the Germans have the feeling that citizens belong to the state. There is a very old, very deep worry of the Swiss people against the Germans - it goes back to history, especially the second world war."

How offshore capitalism ate our economies - and itself
Feb 5 (Guardian) - The author William Brittain-Catlin looks at the history of offshore and how it helped spawn the current financial and economic crisis.

Taxwash
You've heard plenty of "greenwash" from companies declaring environmentally friendly credentials, often on the back of questionable third party endorsements. But just like greenwash, the official endorsement doesn't tell the whole story of the company's record. Unless readers can think of a better term, let's call it "taxwash"

Backdoor fictions
Feb 5 (Guardian) – Another rebuttal of the bogus “tax incidence” argument. Some people argue that avoiding corporate taxes doesn't really count, because companies aren't real people. It is a seductive but misleading argument. First, and most obviously, not all company shareholders are UK tax resident. If there were no UK corporation tax, other taxes would increase to compensate. Does avoidance bring backdoor benefits? Through, say, pension funds? This is a stretch to believe. For most people, this simply isn't the case

Clegg tackles Brown over tax gap investigation
Feb 5 (Guardian) – UK opposition Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg raised the Guardian's tax investigation at prime minister's question time this afternoon - and got an answer as incomprehensible as the subject itself.

Brown “backs” international action on tax avoiders
Feb 5 (Guardian) – Weasel words from Gordon Brown "I believe it is possible to get an international agreement for the exchange of information in relation to tax cases . . . That would be the way that we could move forward our proposals, that we could have both the exchange of information on tax and clamp down on these tax evaders." No 10 said it had been engaged in a "twin track" approach for some time, working with the EU and "leading the way" in efforts within the OECD. It said UK officials had persuaded Jersey, Guernsey, the Isle of Man, Bermuda and the British Virgin Islands to share information. Deeply deceptive: working within the EU = sabotaging the EU’s efforts; sharing = pretending to share; OECD model is fatally flawed.

The transfer of Walkers crisps to a foreign subsidiary has cost UK millions
Feb 5 (Guardian) - A curious thing happened to the UK profits of Walkers Snack Foods in 1999. They fell off a cliff, as did the UK tax bill that went with them. Walkers had been "restructured" by its owners, the US transnational giant, Pepsico. This shifted much of its profits to a tax haven in Switzerland. Pepsico became one of the earliest adopters of the sort of business restructuring that Revenue sources now describe as the biggest threat to the UK tax base.

Volcker Suggests Ways to Refine Bank Regulations
Feb 4 (NYT) - Paul A. Volcker, who is leading President Obama’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board, called on Wednesday for fundamental changes in the regulation of financial instruments and institutions. In testimony Volcker called called for the registration of hedge and equity funds of any substantial size, as well as periodic reporting and disclosure from such firms. For banks and other firms that are large enough to shake the entire financial system if they fail, he called for “particularly close regulation and supervision, meeting high and common international standards.”

Luxembourg Prepared To Negotiate On Banking Secrecy
Feb 4 (Tax news) - Following recent proposals by the European Commission to tighten rules on banking secrecy, Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker has said he is prepared to negotiate. The EU has presented proposals to tighten European rules on banking secrecy for non-residents; if adopted, Luxembourg, Austria and Belgium will no longer be able to cite banking secrecy as a reason to refuse information exchange with another European country. The new proposal is the first time that Brussels has directly targeted banking secrecy.

EU tax haven demands fall flat on Austria
The Austrian finance ministry is cautiously negative about the European Commission’s (EC) call for an end to banking secrecy. Finance ministry spokesman Harald Waiglein said a solution had to ensure Austria would not be put at a competitive disadvantage vis-à-vis non-EU member states Switzerland and Liechtenstein. "We are ready to exchange information, but only when everyone agrees to do so." He said Austrian officials were ready to talk with the EC about banking secrecy.



Charity's regret over Island's Mugabe link
Jan 31 (Manx Radio) - Christian Aid says it’s disappointed Manx companies appear to have been supporting Robert Mugabe’s brutal regime in Zimbabwe.

The European Union has named four firms, all based in Douglas, which are now subject to sanctions.

They belong to Dutch-born businessman John Bredenkamp.

Paul Craine from Christian Aid says the EU is just the latest organisation to scrutinise the firms and their owner (play attached audio file).

Davos: Don't let crisis breed more corruption Jan 2 (Forbes) - Angel Gurria, secretary-general of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, warned that governments and businesses should be especially vigilant against corruption amid the crisis. He also urged a crackdown on tax havens - something a few political leaders have demanded amid the crisis but that barely came up at Davos. Host country Switzerland is itself often seen as a tax haven.

New EU rules designed to make tax evasion more difficult Feb 2 (IHT) - Banking secrecy laws should not stop European governments from exchanging information on possible tax evaders, the European Commission said Monday, backing French and German efforts to clamp down on tax fraud.

THE EU proposes automatic tax information exchange between member states Feb2 (Tax Research) - The EU has already proposed a serious extension of the EU Savings Tax Directive. Now it is proposing a massive further development: automatic, spontaneous information exchange of income and gains tax data between member states.

UBS Tax Probe Fallout Exacerbated by Swiss Pressure in Bailout Feb. 2 (Bloomberg) - UBS AG, the Swiss bank that received $59.2 billion in an unprecedented national bailout, is facing growing pressure from government officials on both sides of the Atlantic to resolve a U.S. tax evasion investigation and restructure its loss-making investment bank.

Halliburton to pay record $559m to settle bribery case Jan 27 (Times) - Halliburton, the US energy services group, has agreed to pay a record $559 million (£394 million) to settle charges that a former subsidiary bribed Nigerian officials during a gas deal.

Nowhere to hide for tax havens? Feb 2 (BBC) - In the past, the political will in Westminster to move against British protectorates that double as tax havens has been feeble. But now that may be changing thanks to tough pressure from the new man in the White House and a drip-drip of revelations from tax havens, both independent and British-protected, that undermine bland assurances that everything "off-shore" is good for everybody "on-shore".

EU calls for end to tax haven Austria Feb 3 (Wiener Zeitung) - The European Commission (EC) has called on Austria to tighten banking regulations making it harder for wealthy foreigners to hold anonymous bank accounts in Austria.

ANALYSIS-When it comes to taxes, companies go for the cold Feb 2 (Reuters) - Bermuda's business climate is getting chillier, so some multinational companies are seeking more hospitable locales -- like wind-swept Ireland and snowy Switzerland.

Piers Morgan's full Monte! The tax haven where the jewels are real and the orgasms are fake Jan 31 (Daily Mail) – Piers Morgan explores Monte Carlo, the tax haven where the jewels are real and the orgasms are fake.

Offshore Singapore, why so attractive? Feb 2 (Ecommerce Journal) – Ecommerce Journal takes a close look at what makes Singapore so alluring to wealth.

Russian court quashes $11.8 mln back tax claim vs. Ernst & Young Jan 27 (RIA Novosti) - The Moscow Arbitration Court quashed on Tuesday back tax claims against auditing firm Ernst & Young totaling 390 million rubles ($11.8 million).

We need more than sticking plasters, warns leading Labour backbencher
Jan 29 (Independent) - A prominent Labour backbencher has warned Gordon Brown that he needs to find a "new language" to explain to the public the actions that the Government is taking in the recession. He urged Mr Brown to launch "two crusades". One would be on "tax justice", including minimum tax rates throughout the incomes scale so that the rich paid their fair share and joining President Obama's crackdown on offshore tax havens.

Dear Western banking establishment,
Re. your unauthorised overdraft.
I notice that your unauthorised credit facility from international lenders of last resort now totals approximately $10 trillion. As a taxpayer and therefore your largest shareholder I would be grateful if you could repay this facility at your earliest convenience.
I would also be grateful if the strategists and economists who work for you could abstain from publishing their unsolicited opinions about resolving the banking crisis within the financial media.

BRITISCHER PREMIER IN DER KRITIK
Web translation here
Jan 28 (Der Spiegel) – Germany’s Der Spiegel Magazine takes a look at British Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s credentials – on the one hand claiming to favour transparency in international finance, while on the other, quietly backing the tax haven world. Quoting TJN’s John Christensen widely.

Brazil Freezes $2 Billion Amid Money-Laundering Probe (Update3)
Jan. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Brazil froze more than $2 billion in accounts outside the country as part of a money-laundering case involving Brazilian investors including banker Daniel Dantas.

New initiatives to tackle International tax avoidance
Jan 26 (HMRevenue and Customs, UK) - The Right Honourable Stephen Timms MP, Financial Secretary to the Treasury said: "The vast majority of taxpayers pay their fair share and do not seek to avoid their financial responsibilities. The avoidance industry seeks to profit from enriching those who are prepared to seek an unfair advantage over those who play by the rules. This in turn denies member countries vital financial resources.

Record capital flight from Argentina last year: 23 billion USD
Money leaving Argentina trebled in 2008 compared to the previous year and was 23% higher to the great capital flight of the second half of 2001 and first half of 2002 which totalled 18.7 billion US dollars and triggered the collapse of the banking system and melting of the economy, according to a report in La Nacion.

Put squalid tax havens out of business - Red Ken
Jan 26 (Guernsey Press) - Mayor of London Ken Livingstone is the latest high-profile commentator to target closing down Guernsey as a ‘tax haven’. Livingstone joked about invading the island to achieve this aim and pointed out that de Gaulle tried to prevent tax avoidance in Monaco by sending tanks to the principality’s border. In an open letter to Gordon Brown he talks more seriously about international changes creating the chance to ‘squeeze squalid little tax havens out of existence’.

Please don’t do it Zambia: you must tax copper
Jan 27 (Tax Research) - Some stories really hurt. This one in the FT does: “Zambia, Africa’s biggest copper producer, appears poised to drop plans to secure more of its mineral wealth.” This is a disaster if it’s true.

Banks failed to register subsidiaries in 'oversight'
Jan 25 (Observer) - Two of Britain's biggest banks have failed to register the location of their subsidiaries in what appears to be a contravention of British company law.

A runaway train
Jan 28 (Guardian, by Alex Cobham) - The question: What economic system would really benefit humanity?
The same secrecy and lack of regulatory coordination that caused the crisis also imposes other costs on developing countries. This is especially clear in relation to tax. Multinational companies' and rich individuals' ability to exploit tax havens and hide their profits is depriving poor countries of staggering amounts of revenue.

Transparency, Accountability Key to Restructuring of Global Financial System
Jan 28 (GFIP) - As policy makers, business leaders, and institutional stakeholders convene in Davos, Switzerland for the World Economic Forum, Global Financial Integrity (GFI) urges participants to call for greatly improved financial transparency and accountability. The importance of one of the Forum’s themes, “Addressing the Challenges of Sustainability and Development,” is underscored by a new GFI report titled “Illicit Capital Flight Out of Developing Countries: 2002-2006.” The key finding of the report is that developing countries lose as much as $1 trillion dollars a year in illicit capital flight as a result of illegal commerce, corruption, and tax evasion.  

Hedge fund reform to bring investors to their senses
Jan 27 (TJN) - Professor Sol Picciotto, a senior adviser to TJN, has co-written a letter that appears in the Financial Times. We are delighted to reproduce it in full. 

Letter from Washington
Jan 26 (TJN) - Today's blogger has just returned home from a trip to the United States, where the high point of the trip involved standing on the Mall in a chilly Washington D.C. on January 20 watching the inauguration of President Barack Obama.

Brussels looks for lost VAT in the Channel
Jan 25 (Tax Research UK) - Some of the leading online CD and DVD retailers in the UK continue to avoid taxes, depriving Treasury coffers of hundreds of millions of pounds and pushing many independent music stores out of business. Richard Murphy looks into why the Treasury turns a blind eye to this tax abuse.

New German anti-tax haven law
Jan 21 (TJN) - We are getting reports of new German anti-tax haven legislation. According to the Suddeutsche Zeitung (translation here ), German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck "wants a massive tightening of laws directed at states that promote tax evasion and which deny co-operation with the German authorities."


U.S. Tax Case Against UBS Grows Wider; Talks to Settle
Jan 26 (WS Journal) - U.S. tax investigators believe the number of American clients that UBS helped to avoid taxes could be much higher than the previously disclosed estimate of about 17,000. Investigators are also looking into whether other parts of the bank besides the wealth-management unit were involved in helping clients avoid U.S. taxes.

Banks failed to register subsidiaries in 'oversight'
Jan 25 (Observer) - Two of Britain's biggest banks have failed to register the location of their subsidiaries in what appears to be a contravention of British company law. TUC boss Brendan Barber believes the "oversight" is part of a worrying trend in which banks that are now receiving hundreds of billions of pounds in treasury support have been using secretive tax havens

UN crime chief says drug money flowed into banks
Jan 25 (Reuters) - The United Nations' crime and drug watchdog has indications that money made in illicit drug trade has been used to keep banks afloat in the global financial crisis, its head was quoted as saying on Sunday.

Brussels looks for lost VAT in the Channel
Jan 25 (Tax Research UK) - Some of the leading online CD and DVD retailers in the UK continue to avoid taxes, depriving Treasury coffers of hundreds of millions of pounds and pushing many independent music stores out of business. Richard Murphy looks into why the Treasury turns a blind eye to this tax abuse.

Obama to influence Hongkong as tax havens
Jan 19 (International Business Times) - Hong Kong and Singapore may soon come under increased scrutiny from the US, if incoming President Barack Obama follows through with his pledge to crack down on abusive "tax havens" which "peddle secrecy" and "cloak tax evasion and other misconduct," according to Withers law firm.

Top Canada court boosts tax avoidance rule
Jan 23 (Lawyers Weekly) - The Supreme Court has ramped up the importance of the Income Tax Act’s general anti-avoidance rule (GAAR) with what one expert calls “the most significant tax decision in 70 years.”

U.S. and U.K. Could Fall Out over Tax Havens
Jan 25 (Seeking Alpha) - The lack of desire on the part of the UK to participate in a new international crackdown on financial secrecy and tax havens could bring about some tension in the so called “special relationship” between the UK and the US.

Editorial: To be Forewarned is to be Forearmed
Jan 21 (Cayman Net News) – The public and private sector leaders in the Cayman Islands should immediately take urgent steps to identify the possible exposure of our financial services industry to a mass pullout by foreign banks now controlled by their respective governments and the economic and social implications such an event will have on the Cayman Islands.

German ex-high-flyer in tax trial
Jan 22 (BBC) - The former head of Germany's Deutsche Post, Klaus Zumwinkel, has gone on trial for tax evasion. He pleaded guilty to charges of avoiding paying nearly 1m euros in taxes (more than £900,000) in 2003-07.

Pirates in Pinstripes Sink Britain
Jan 22 (Op Ed News) - Even in this crisis, the British government still offers refuge to pinstriped pirates - Britain's tax havens fuel crime and corruption on a huge scale but, for Prime Minister Gordon Brown, keeping business happy is still the priority.

Tim Geithner's tax evasion
Jan 22 (Telegraph Blogs) - THE US senate finance committee has voted for Tim Geithner, tax evader, to become Treasury secretary. He is likely to be confirmed by a vote on the senate floor soon, thanks to the virtually free pass he has been given by the media, the toothless opposition of the Republicans or the magnitude of Obama's first betrayal of his ideals.

EU To Propose Climate Tax
Jan 26 (Environmental Leader) - The European Union is expected to propose a climate tax on greenhouse gases from 2013-2020. The tax could help raise $200 billion and help poor countries prepare for global warming, Reuters reports.

Raju under lens for capital gains tax fraud
Jan 27 (Economic Times) – The tax authorities are taking a hard look at how the disgraced promoter of Satyam Computer Services, B Ramalinga Raju, used money raised through pledging of shares. The move will enable the income-tax department to trace some of the undisclosed income of Mr Raju, his family members and their investment firms—an exercise that is distinctly different from the current probe on diversion of Satyam’s funds.

ECB's Trichet at European Parliament
Jan 21 (Reuters) - The following are comments by European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet during his testimony on Wednesday at an economic committee of the European Parliament. 'We are talking about tax havens that don't respect financial transparency, don't meet rules, don't allow us to tackle the proceeds of crime, terrorism.' 'We are in favour of strengthening the application of global rules.'

 

Can the UK government stop the UK banking system going down the snyrting without risking a sovereign debt crisis?
Jan 21 (FT Buiter blog) - The same version of the ‘Dutch disease’ - the crowding out of the non-financial internationally exposed sectors (exporting and import-competing) by the excessive growth of the financial sector and the construction industry - occurred in both countries, again to a greater extent in Iceland than in the UK, but to an highly undesirable extent even in the UK. Ireland may well be the next country where the ‘too large to rescue’ theory may be tested, although countries like the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, the UK and, outside the EU, Switzerland, are also potential candidates


Bankers accused in crisis could face trials in US
Jan 21 (Guardian) - Sanctions against bankers deemed responsible for the financial crisis could include more legal action abroad, lawyers say. The UK Serious Fraud Office, which is also responsible for prosecuting financial crime in the UK, was described recently by US prosecutor Jessica de Grazia as suffering from "startlingly low productivity and convictions rates compared to its New York counterparts".

Switzerland Remains Leading Wealth Management Centre, by Ulrika Lomas, Tax-News.com, Brussels

January 21 (Tax-news) – A Swiss Bankers Association report, released this month, has reflected on Switzerland's success in gaining status as a leading global wealth management centre.

 

Obama to influence Hongkong as tax havens

Jan 19 (IBTimes ) - Hong Kong and Singapore may soon come under increased scrutiny from the US. The centrepiece of the Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act is a provision that would force taxpayers to prove that they do not have control over any offshore entities with which they contract, including trusts,corporations, limited liability companies and partnerships. The STHAA would also increase reporting and withholding requirements on financial institutions and fiduciaries dealing with tax havens.  

 

Multinationals flee Bermuda
Jan 17 (Intertax) - Frightened by the inauguration of a new U.S. administration that has made the fight against tax havens a priority, a half-dozen large companies domiciled in Bermuda and the Cayman Islands have announced their change of address to Switzerland. In French, with translation here.

Do not squander America’s stimulus on tax cuts
Jan 15 (FT, by Stiglitz) - Some suggest that, having exhausted the more transparent bail-out strategy, banks are seeking less transparent help through the tax code. household tax cuts, except for possibly the poorest, should have no place in the stimulus. Good accounting looks at assets and liabilities. Spending on infrastructure, education and technology create assets; they increase future productivity.

Revenue property firm on the brink
Jan 18 (Times) - MAPELEY, the offshore company that owns the Inland Revenue’s property portfolio, has warned shareholders it could go bust unless they vote in favour of a rescue convertible bond issue backed by Fortress, the American investment group.

Tax evasion `VIP unit' will chase celebrities and City fat cats
Jan 19 (Telegraph) - Celebrities and business tycoons will be targeted by a new team set up to identify tax evasion by the super-rich.

Global Task Force Links Financial Integrity and Economic Development
Jan 17 (TJN) - Global Financial Integrity, with which the Tax Justice Network works closely, has issued a press release on their Task Force on Financial Integrity and Economic Development.

83% of big U.S companies, contractors use offshore tax havens
Jan 17 (TJN) – From the Washington Post - the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) has just issued a report showing that 83 of the 100 largest publicly traded corporations and 63 of the 100 largest federal contractors rely on offshore subsidiaries to do business and cut their tax bills. Also see here.

Tax Justice Focus – THE NEXT STEPS EDITION
Jan 14 (TJN) – In case you missed it.

Swiss to hand over data to end UBS tax case-report
Jan 18 (Reuters) - The Swiss government plans to hand over some data on UBS clients and accept a large fine against the bank in exchange for U.S. authorities ending a damaging tax probe, the NZZ am Sonntag reported.

More than 50 nations tackling tax havens
Jan 19 (Tax Research UK) –A few years ago a few of set out on a journey to tackle the problems secrecy jurisdictions and the financial architecture that supports them cause. We travelled in hope, and in the face of considerable opposition . To have the explicit backing of several governments present at the meeting, both financially and explicitly, plus the clear support from the more than fifty nations aligned to the Leading Group of Nations, ably represented by France in DC, is an extraordinary boost.
 

Africa May Face 'Centuries' of Poverty
Jan 8 (IPS) - Extreme poverty will continue to blight sub-Saharan Africa for another 200 years unless action to overcome it is intensified, a new report has suggested.

Executive at UBS Is Deemed a Fugitive
Jan 13 (NYT) - Raoul Weil, 49, a Swiss citizen, oversaw UBS’s lucrative cross-border private banking operations from 2002 to 2007. Two months after being indicted by a federal judge in connection with a widening investigation of UBS’s offshore private banking services, his whereabouts are unknown.

UBS expects $1.8 bln U.S. fine in tax case-paper
Jan 11 (Reuters) - Swiss Sunday newspaper Sonntag reported that Switzerland's UBS expects a fine of some 2 billion Swiss francs ($1.80 billion) related to a U.S. tax investigation.

Calif. court rejects lawsuit against tax increases
Jan 10 (AP) — An anti-tax group will consider new legal action after a California appeals court tossed out a lawsuit that sought to block tax increases passed by Democrats in the state Legislature, the group said Thursday.

Pelosi Urges Obama to Raise Taxes on Wealthy This Year
Jan 8 (Washington Post) - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is urging the incoming Obama administration to stick to its campaign pledge and immediately increase taxes on the wealthiest Americans, a position that President-elect Barack Obama has wavered on since winning election.

Manulife in hot water over tax shelter
Jan 6 (Financial Post) - Manulife Financial Corp. is attempting to take advantage of the credit crisis to cash in early on a complex financial transaction that lawmakers view as a "tax shelter scam" and were due to shut down, inciting fury on Capitol Hill.

Morgan Stanley, GE Want Tax Waiver on Loans From Offshore Units
Jan. 13 (Bloomberg) - They are promoting a plan to Congress that would waive U.S. tax penalties on businesses that borrow from their offshore units. The proposal would allow foreign subsidiaries to lend cash to their parent companies for up to two years without triggering a tax that would otherwise be due.

Sleeping watchdogs
Jan 14 (Guardian) - India's intellectual elite has abdicated responsibility for developing accounting and auditing technologies fit for an emerging economy. Instead, they have adopted standards developed by corporate dominated western organisations such as the International Accounting Standards Board and the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board. These may not be appropriate for family-dominated companies. 

Investment Tax Cuts Help Mostly the Rich
Jan 10 (NY Times) – According to a new study by the Congressional Budget Office, in 2005 the top one-tenth of 1 percent of taxpayers — a group that included those with after-tax incomes of more than $1.5 million — reported $335 billion in capital gains, or just over half the total amount of capital gains. By contrast, the bottom 95 percent of the income distribution — those with incomes under $126,300 — had just $69 billion in capital gains, about 10 percent of the total.

Why Are the Media More Interested in Blago Than in Unraveling the Bailout Mystery?
Jan 11 (Huffington Post) - As a GAO report  last month concluded: "The rapid pace of implementation and evolving nature of the program have hampered efforts to put a comprehensive system of internal control in place. Until such a system is fully developed and implemented, there is heightened risk that the interests of the government and taxpayers may not be adequately protected and that the program objectives may not be achieved in an efficient and effective manner." The money is flying out the door but no one is watching where it's going. Naomi Klein adds more here

A blue emerald
Jan 11 (FT) - Fired up by European Union investment, low corporation taxes and light regulation, the Irish attracted investment – and tax revenue – from around the world. But Ireland is now particularly exposed to the recession.

At number 25
TJN’s Richard Murphy is selected by Accountancy Age on its Financial Power List for 2009.

Probe widened on US banking violation
Jan 11 (FT_) - A US investigation into potential sanctions violations has expanded to involve nine European banks. Authorities suspect that some of the money transferred through the American banking system might have been used to finance Iran’s nuclear and missile programmes.

Lloyds in $350m US settlement
Jan 9 (FT) _ Lloyds TSB will pay $350m to settle US investigations after admitting it enabled Iranian and Sudanese clients to access the US banking system in violation of US sanctions, prosecutors said on Friday. The process made it appear that transactions originated at Lloyds in the UK rather than the sanctioned banks

What to look for in proposed tax breaks
Jan 8 (Niemanwatchdog) - Multinationals are pushing to make it easier to shift profits abroad by replacing the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles we now use with International Financial Reporting Standards, which allow much greater “flexibility.” The press need to ask why we are not going to a worldwide tax system, sometimes called combined reporting, that would eliminate shifting profits overseas. They also need to ask whether it wouldn’t be far more stimulative to eliminate most of the corporate tax subsidies and lower tax rates on everyone.

Exxon CEO Advocates carbon Tax
Jan 9 (WSJ) - The chief executive of Exxon Mobil Corp. for the first time called on Congress to enact a tax on greenhouse-gas emissions in order to fight global warming. Rex Tillerson said that a tax was a "more direct, a more transparent and a more effective approach." How times change.  

Sarkozy and Merkel warn on finance regulation
Jan 8 (FT) - President Nicolas Sarkozy and Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday warned the US and the banking industry not to thwart European efforts to tighten financial regulations this year. Ms Merkel told the conference that she would “react very strongly” if the financial community tried to block government efforts to tighten regulation.

Irish tax havens plan
Jan 7 (Manx Radio) - Islands off the coast of the Republic of Ireland could soon be competing with the Isle of Man, by going tax-free. ??The Gaeltacht Authority says a special tax incentive scheme could be introduced in the counties of Donegal, Mayo, Galway and Cork. One part of the scheme would see people living on the islands for at least six months each year could earn 100,000 Euros a year tax free for 10 years.??The plans have yet to be considered by the Irish government.

The danger from GATS
Jan 8 (Tax Research) - Linda Kaucher from the LSE writes for Tax Research about a GATS deal (General Agreement on Trade in Services). Signing up to the GATS Round will make financial deregulation irreversible. While Gordon Brown apparently exudes moral and prudent Presbyterianism, he is, like David Cameron, embedded in the spin industry. He was and is the main proponent of financial deregulation. The push for the GATS came from transnational capital, mainly Citicorp, AIG, and American Express. Whatever the arguments on agricultural and manufactured goods, services liberalisation is another world - deeper, more intrusive meta regulation controlling and overriding national regulatory processes, and favouring the rights of big business over democracy.

Controlled by the corporations
Jan 8 (Guardian) - By Prem Sikka - The Companies Act 1985 (now part of the Companies Act 2006), subject to various formalities, allows companies to repurchase their shares. Companies could pay dividends (which attract income tax) but share repurchases are treated as capital gains, which attract considerable tax exemptions. Executive remuneration is also linke to share prices. Without creating an iota of additional wealth, directors can increase earnings per share, their bonuses and share options.

Pressured by I.R.S., UBS Is Closing Secret Accounts
Jan 8 (NY Times) - Under pressure from federal authorities, the Swiss bank UBS is closing the hidden offshore accounts of its well-heeled American clients, potentially allowing their secrets to spill into the open. UBS will transfer the assets to other banks or other divisions within UBS, or will mail checks directly to the account holders, creating paper trails for federal prosecutors.
Analysis: Clamping down on tax havens
Jan 5 (Standard) - The Evening Standard has examined how one of the world's biggest private wealth management groups circulates funds via offices in the Cayman Islands, claiming they take major investment decisions - when the main work is apparently carried out in London.

Aussie cops swoop in tax case
Jan 2 (Stuff) - Acting on a request from Australian authorities, The Jersey police's financial crimes unit swooped on Philip de Figueiredo, one of the principals of the Swiss accounting firm Strachans, the secretive tax haven specialists at the centre of the Wickenby investigations.

Can the US economy afford a Keynesian stimulus?
Jan 5 (Buiter / FT) - For the US, there will have to be some combination of higher taxes as a share of GDP or lower non-interest public spending as a share of GDP. . . . this implies the need for a future private to public sector resource transfer that is most unlikely to be politically feasible without recourse to inflation. The only alternative is default. . . . the scope for expansionary fiscal policy in the US is much more limited than president-elect Obama’s advisers appear to realise. An article that is not for the faint-hearted.

Tax Freedom Day for Goldman Sachs has already happened
Jan 5 (Tax Research) - Goldman Sachs paid tax at an effective rate of 0.6% in the year to 30 November 2008. If that is replicated this year that means that their tax freedom day fell on 2 January, but since most people weren’t around then, I thought I’d mention it now. And yet the Adam Smith Institute argue that Tax Freedom Day is on June 2nd.