This letter was in the Guardian this morning: The Guardian’s investigation into offshore secrecy highlights a significant problem that is global in its impact. Developing countries lose vital resources for development through illicit capital flight, to such an extent that Africa is actually a net creditor to the rest of the world. Ending financial secrecy
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The FT has, in a very welcome editorial, come out strongly against the depl;y offensive UK – Switzerland tax deal that was made UK law this year and which comes into effect soon. Commenting favourably on the German parliaments recent rejection of a similar deal it says: The rejection of a tax agreement with Switzerland by the upper house of Germany’s parliament is a
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The FT has what I consider to be an important article this morning. For the first time that I recall it records a  Big 4 firm of accountants saying the time has come for radical change in the disclosure of what companies report for tax purposes. The article says: Big companies are set to divulge more details
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In this ‘Taxcast Extra’ from the Tax Justice Network I discuss Unitary Tax and why it’s a good solution to corporate tax avoidance. The TaxCast is produced by @Naomi_Fowler. For the full monthly Taxcasts with eye-opening news and analysis on tax dodging, tax havens and corruption go to the TaxCast web site.

I have just drawn attention to the failings of Companies House, as has the Guardian today. There are endless, appropriate, stories on corporate tax abuse at present. So it seems fair to note that there was a Bill before parliament last year that tackled both issues, proposed by Caroline Lucas, and I admit, written by me. I think it is, therefore, worth repeating what
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Companies House is meant to regulate companies incorporated in the UK. It doesn’t. It is instead the epitome of a UK regulatory failure. Worse than that, it provides perhaps the best possible evidence of the failure of the ‘light touch’ UK regulatory regime. The principle of company regulation is simple. The privilege of limited liability is granted by parliament. In exchange for having
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As the Guardian notes in an editorial this morning: The offshore industry is marked by the same combination of sleepy watchdogs who have rings run around them by those gaming the system. Companies House now has records full of fake directors, who actually have nothing to do with the firms they notionally control. As it
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Fiona McTaggart MP said in a debate on Google’s tax affairs on Channel 4 on Tuesday that she expected companies to pay their fair share of tax. Madsen Pirie of the Adam Smith Institute immediately jumped on her argument. “Who is to say what’s a fair rate of tax?” he demanded (or words to that effect). Fiona’s
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The US has banned BP, temporarily, from bidding for Federal contracts as a result of its “lack of business integrity” following the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Given BP is paying the biggest fine in US history as a result of that no one can be that surprised, but it leads to another question for me, which is whether not
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