Tax As An Investment
The Taxcast
"Tax is one of the smartest investments you can make." That's Professor Chris Harrop's promise to companies, and his new tax funded impact model proves it by helping quantify how paying tax is not only good for their businesses, but for the economies they're operating in, and of course for people and society. Plus: Why have OECD countries just bent the knee to Donald Trump and given up their sovereign rights to tax US businesses operating within their own borders? Naomi Fowler speaks with Zorka Millin of the FACT Coalition about how US companies now have an exemption from the...
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Trailer: The Corruption Diaries, Series 2
The Taxcast
The Corruption Diaries is a journey through the eyes of anti-corruption veterans with their unique perspectives on combating one of the most compelling ethical challenges of our time. In Series Two: Richard Allen's passion was alternative music and he set up in the music business with his own record label, managing and touring with bands like Porcupine Tree. But a tax loophole took all of that away from him and he unexpectedly became a campaigner, taking on tax dodgers and the British authorities from his garden shed. Produced by Leo Schick and hosted by Naomi Fowler of the Tax Justice...
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US "r" Us or tax sovereignty?
The Taxcast
Countries can either capitulate to President Trump's tax bullying. Or come together to fight for the sovereign right to tax multinationals fairly. In this episode host Naomi Fowler explores whether US economic policy is actually good for the US economy and its people. We've done some number crunching looking at what really happened after Trump's 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. It tells us a lot about the state of tax justice, its real effects on people, and the misguided exercise of power. Transcript of the show: Featuring: The Tax Justice Network's Mark Bou Mansour, Alison Schultz and...
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Social Reuse of Seized Assets
The Taxcast
When tax officials and law enforcement do manage to recover assets and money from criminals, what happens next? How are those seizures used to benefit taxpayers and society? We think there are lots of missed opportunities here and the Taxcast goes to West Yorkshire in the North of England to see social reuse of seized assets in action. It's pretty heartening. Plus: President Donald Trump has pardoned convicted money launderer Changpeng Zhao, the billionaire founder of the world's biggest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance. We speak to Scott Greytak of Transparency International US about what...
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Banking on Opus Dei
The Taxcast
We look at the outsized influence of a small and secretive Catholic institution, Opus Dei, from Spain's dictator Franco, right up to the present day. And the bank it secretly controlled for sixty years: "This sounds a bit like a bit of conspiracy theory but trust me, it's very real. It's in almost every major city around the world and it's quite ruthless. It's close to the Trump regime because they share a lot of common ground." ~ Gareth Gore, journalist and author Plus: in the latest twist in the epic battle to end anonymous ownership in the United States, the US's financial regulator...
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Immigrants, tax and bullying in the USA
The Taxcast
The persecution of anyone suspected of being an undocumented immigrant in the United States is not only taking the form of armed, masked ICE agents. Tax is being weaponised against them too. An estimated 10.9 million undocumented immigrants are the powerhouse of the United States economy, and also an exploitable workforce with minimal rights. It turns out that they're paying a higher effective tax rate than 55 mega-corporations and several billionaires: There's something very wrong with our tax system, that people with that much wealth could be paying a lower tax rate than undocumented...
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Millionaire exodus myth
The Taxcast
Millionaires are not fleeing countries to escape taxes. The Tax Justice Network has analysed these claims and found it's questionable data published by a firm that helps the super-rich buy their way out of rules that apply to everybody else. In fact, things are changing for people in the business of helping to sell passports and residency. Some doors are closing... Plus, we look at the latest results from the Financial Secrecy Index - what are the latest global trends and have you heard of an anocracy?! Transcript of the show: Further reading: Millionaire exodus did not occur, study reveals,...
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How to spend 14 billion
The Taxcast
The life-changing, life-saving, transformational nature of tax - for people and planet. Ireland's got a tax windfall of about €14 billion - that's roughly $15 billion. What are they going to do with it..? "This is the kind of moment that doesn't come around often and we really need to seize it. Or if we let the opportunity slip through our fingers, it's going to have impacts for future generations." ~ Mansi Rawat, Social Justice Ireland We don't do enough about blue sky thinking on how tax can transform our lives. This is our chance to unlock our imaginations. It's also time for...
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#153 Criminalising Journalists
The Taxcast
The Taxcast looks at the battle for freedom of the press in Switzerland and the implications for the rest of the world. Investigative journalists like Bastian Obermayer risks arrest, fines and imprisonment if he sets foot in Switzerland again, and Swiss journalists are having to turn away strong public interest stories - for fear of not just rich and powerful people coming after them, but also the Swiss state. Switzerland's always been famous for its banking secrecy laws and it's never been the friendliest place for investigative journalists. Now the situation threatens to get even worse....
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The Chinese Phantom
The Taxcast
How easy is it to get filthy rich selling arms to anyone who'll pay? There may be sanctions, there may be laws, but even though he's the FBI's most wanted fugitive, a Chinese arms dealer and manufacturer has evaded arrest for two decades. Who could be better to investigate one of the world’s most dangerous men and tell this story than Panama Papers journalists? Taxcast host Naomi Fowler speaks to Frederik Obermaier about the book The Chinese Phantom: the Hunt for the World's most Dangerous Arms Dealer. What does it tell us about sanctions and financial secrecy at a time of rising autocracy...
info_outlineIn this episode: we bring you stories on how we've all been cheated, and look at some of the actors involved in the corruption of tax policy making in Australia; the consequences have rippled out to affect the rest of the world. Two of the OECD's top people seem to be compromised on matters of tax and the public interest. So what does that say about their motivations? What does it say about the motivations of the organizations they work for? Should an organisation like the OECD be so strongly connected to the big four accountancy firms? And should governments? How do we protect ourselves from the forces seeking to obstruct tax justice in the world?
Plus, we'll bring you the latest updates on historic negotiations between nations on a UN Tax Convention from a Tax Justice Network colleague who was in the room and gives us his impressions.
"There is a South cooperation and a South-South pushback against the developed countries. And that is a remarkable moment and it will change the tax world. There is no ignoring this anymore by the OECD countries."
"We need to see global cooperation from governments, clearly these tax advisor firms are operating across borders, they collaborate so I think we need to see tax authorities and governments doing similar."
Further resources:
Transcript of this epsiode (some is automated, so not 100% accurate) https://podcasts.taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Transcript_Taxcast-May-2024_-the-corrupting-of-tax-justice.pdf
The People vs Microsoft (previous Taxcast #137) https://podcasts.taxjustice.net/episode/137-the-people-vs-microsoft/
PwC: a calculated breach of trust (Australian) Senate Finance and Public Administration References Committee report https://apo.org.au/node/323246
Live rolling Tax Justice Network blog with regular updates on progress on negotiations at the UN https://taxjustice.net/2024/04/25/%f0%9f%94%b4live-un-tax-negotiations/
What happened at the first round of UN tax negotiations and what’s next? https://taxjustice.net/2024/05/17/what-happened-at-the-first-round-of-un-tax-negotiations-and-whats-next/
Litany of failure: new briefing sets out OECD’s manifold shortcomings in international tax talks https://taxjustice.net/2024/05/28/litany-of-failure-new-briefing-sets-out-oecds-manifold-shortcomings-in-international-tax-talks/
Our website with all previous Taxcasts https://podcasts.taxjustice.net/production/taxcast/