I have for the past five years been funded in three fundamental ways.
The first has been by a core grant from the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust.
The second has been by occasional grants from bodies such as the Joffe Charitable Trust and International Centre for Tax and Development.
The third has been by working for those of wanting to buy research services, such as the TUC, PCS, Unite, groupings in the EU Parliament and others.
A year ago the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust told me that they could not continue to fund any project after five years, believing that they would by then have given sufficient support and would seek to diversify their funding. I have been incredibly grateful to them for their support over that period and fully understand their reasoning. That did, however, leave a potentially very large gap in my income to fill.
I am, however, pleased to say that I have secured new core funding of £40,000 a year from the Friends Provident Foundation. This is likely to be for two years.
I have also been offered a grant of £25,000 a year from a private trust that has asked that I do not publicise their name because of the number of requests for funding that otherwise follow and the burden that this imposes. In the circumstances that have been explained to me I have accepted this constraint. This may be for up to three years.
In both cases the grants are for broadly similar research programmes. So, the Friends Provident Foundation grant is intended to, for example:
…address the continuing lack of tax justice in the UK and other societies. This is an issue because:
- The tax burden is being shifted from capital onto income;
- A lack of tax transparency is fuelling mistrust in business that is unhealthy to long term economic well-being in a mixed economy;
- Tax avoidance and tax evasion by some businesses is distorting competition in their favour and undermining the creation of long term, honest and sustainable companies in the UK;
- Failure to collect tax owing is contributing to the austerity agenda that is creating cuts in services that are harming the wellbeing of many in the UK;
- The tax system is not being used to encourage a sustainable future;
- Political discourse is being undermined by the simplistic presentation of tax issues that undermines true debate and so alienates people from the democratic process.
And it is intended that work should focus on the following to achieve this goal:
- New research to monitor the impact and effectiveness of country-by-country reporting to support the demand for country-by-country reporting data to be published on public record;
- A series on new tax reporting standards for multinational corporations to be launched to build on the success of country-by-country reporting;
- The book ‘ The Joy of Tax' should be published
- Work on model or ideal tax systems should be launched with an NGO / NGO partners;
- Promoting the idea that Green (or Infrastructure) Quantitative Easing can be used as an alternative to PFI and tax funding for investment in public infrastructure;
- Work on tax gaps, with a focus on tax evasion
The second source of funding is for broadly similarly specified work but with a stronger focus on green issues and sustainability.
Both make provision for me to engage assistance to undertake the work. Both organisations have agreed that an appropriate income benchmark for my work is that of a UK university professor.
I now suspect that as result of these two grants and another very part time appointment that I am currently applying for that these sources of funding will become my main sources of income in Tax Research LLP over the next couple of years.
I am grateful to the trustees of both organisations for the confidence they have shown in the work that I do.
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I’m delighted to hear that, Richard.
Even if those at different points on the political spectrum don’t always agree with your analysis, I am sure everyone recognises the need for a range of distinctive voices. Particularly in our field, there are far too few of these.
Congratulations to you, and my thanks (too) to the Friends Provident Foundation,
Jolyon
Out of interest, will these grants be taxable?
Yes
Very good news indeed, Richard. I look forward to seeing the results of this work over the coming years, and like Jolyon, would like to thank both funders for the grants they’re giving you.
Thanks
“Both organisations have agreed that an appropriate income benchmark for my work is that of a UK university professor.”
Will you also be adhering to the expected standards of a UK professor – publishing source data, explaining methodology, engaging with critics?
You clearly have not noticed what I do, all the time
“The book ‘ The Joy of Tax’ should be published”
I wholeheartedly agree.
I hope your publisher will include some tasteful illustrations on the joy of tax.
Congratulations for getting the funding. Very glad you’ll be able to keep up the good work.
Thank you for clarifying that.
It is somewhat embarrassing that I now know more about your funding than I do about my elected representatives’, despite expending a considerable effort in their direction.
It’s interesting that you name not just your funders but the amounts. I’m relatively new, still groping my way round this site so to speak, but have you always been this detailed since JRCT began funding five years ago?
I have always made clear that the JRCT funding was £35,000 a year
‘Always’?
http://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2010/08/02/tax-research-uk-new-funding-from-the-joseph-rowntree-charitable-trust/
I’ve been a victim of people who have raked up the distant past myself. So I know how you feel.
As evidence of the tedious sort of comment that some with time to waste offer this is high up there
The data has been in my accounts, on public record, on the JRCT site and no doubt at some time on the site
But you have so little to do in life you bother to search out a comment
How sad is that?
Please go and get a life. There must be so much more you could do with it
By comparison with the opposition, the funding is a drop in the ocean. Super concentrated stuff though. Well done.
Excellent news and very transparent. In terms of contribution to knowledge and impact you punch way above most UK professors so it is great value for money for the donors. The business academy has much to learn from you about the power and influence of sustained blogging. But many are perhaps not interested in public policy but simply in writing academic papers.
That’s great news and from serious respected sources as well
Your transparency is an object lesson to the organisations that oppose this work. It’s telling that the garden gnomes (as I think of the trolls…) conveniently ignore this…
Thanks
Richard, why have you deleted me?
Because I am suffering trolls
And I do not think your name is real
and me ? i have always been a supporter .
Sincere congratulations Richard.
Well done Richard and may I also thank your funders for recognising your invaluable contribution to tax justice.
Thanks
And to them
Congratulations.
I do hope the research on impact and effectiveness of CBCR will be objective. Must be quite hard when you are so close to it.
Does the second research topic somewhat pre-empt the outcome?
Just kidding. All the best.
Thanks Tim but no researcher is objective
The pretence that they are is a neoliberal economists delusion
Great to see such transparency, if only we could see this in all areas of public life. Keep up the good work and kudos to your new sponsors.
Congratulations Richard and very well deserved. I am very glad you’ve got the backing you need.
Richard, have you considered putting Paypal on your blog for donations to your work? Some (or many I suspect)of us would be happy to donate to your work. 🙂
Anthony, it has been recommended often and if I was starting up I might do it. But as a bit of a veteran looking to fund research thinking I am lucky enough to be able to secure grants. The blog gets thrown in during my spare time
So the ratio of dividends to investment spending in US plcs is around 8 or 9 to 1. That looks wrong in any event, but compare that number to the UK government where the ratio of tax receipts to investment spending is around 20 to 1.
That’s your crisis summed up in a sentence.
We like investment, when it’s of the kind that involves a genuine expectation of a return on the investment, and only government can mandate some types of it when it means carving out villages with heavy plant. But it is government that is not doing enough of it.
I presume you know you are not comparing like with like
Although you are right, government is also not investing enough
But the issues are not the same