The Taxcast

On the Taxcast this month: People power for tax justice is on the rise like never before. We kick off 2024 with inspiring stories on campaigns for tax reform from around the world: strategies, successes, limitations, and what we can learn from the first in-depth studies of their kind by International Budget Partnership.

Plus: Malawian poet and Senior Tax Investigations Officer Robert Chiwamba pays tribute to tax collectors everywhere. You can watch him perform We Will Count Them here.

Transcript of the show: https://taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Taxcast_transcript_Jan_2024.pdf (Some is automated)

Guests:

Robert Chiwamba, Malawian poet and Senior Tax Investigations Officer (his youtube site is here, WATCH him performing his poem We Will Count Them https://youtu.be/V95_Yd8Dfhs )

Greg Leroy of Good Jobs First

Paolo de Renzio, formerly Senior Research Fellow with the International Budget Partnership, now Senior Lecturer at the Brazilian School of Public and Business Administration of Fundação Getúlio Vargas in Rio de Janeiro.

Produced and presented by Naomi Fowler of the Tax Justice Network.

Further reading:

A Taxing Journey: How Civic Actors Influence Tax Policy (open access – free pdf from International Budget Partnership https://www.bloomsburycollections.com/monograph?docid=b-9781350344648 and a summary paper on that work here: https://internationalbudget.org/publications/a-taxing-journey-how-civic-actors-influence-tax-policy/

Beneficial Ownership reporting begins in the US: https://thefactcoalition.org/u-s-beneficial-ownership-reporting-begins-groundbreaking-anti-bribery-bill-signed-into-law-just-the-facts-1-8-24/

Proud to Pay More: 260+ millionaires and billionaires from 17 countries ask governments to tax them more https://proudtopaymore.org/

The EU Court ruling on Beneficial Ownership registries in 2022 https://taxjustice.net/press/eu-court-returns-eu-to-dark-ages-of-dirty-money/

A Tax Justice Network report on how to fix beneficial ownership frameworks https://taxjustice.net/2023/12/20/new-report-on-how-to-fix-beneficial-ownership-frameworks-so-they-actually-work/

In this brand new Tax Justice Network weekly podcast we take listeners on a journey through the eyes of anti-corruption veterans who were on the frontline of events that have defined our world today, with stories and perspectives on reform you won't hear anywhere else.

In Series 1 we sit down with leading white collar crime lawyer and senior Tax Justice Network adviser Jack Blum who tells us about his life's work during a period of huge geopolitical change and transformed global tax and financial systems. From the BCCI scandal, to Panamanian dictator Noriega's cocaine trafficking, to Lockheed Aircraft's overseas bribes - Jack was there.

Every Wednesday we'll release a new episode. Don't miss it! Subscribe on your podcast app: https://pod.link/1721797109

The Corruption Diaries is produced by Naomi Fowler and Jo Barratt of the Tax Justice Network. Interviews with Jack Blum were recorded over several days at Jack's home in Maryland by journalist Zoe Sullivan.

In an extended Taxcast edition this month, a century of tax rule setting by the former imperial powers has been overturned: we look at the UN vote on global tax reform. Taxcast host Naomi Fowler follows events at the UN, the failed efforts to block it and explores what it all means with Alex Cobham of the Tax Justice Network.

Featuring:

Alex Cobham of the Tax Justice Network

UN representatives from Nigeria, South Africa, the Bahamas, the UK, the US, Spain, Russian Federation, Cameroon.

Hosted by Naomi Fowler of the Tax Justice Network, produced by Naomi Fowler and Jo Barratt.

Transcript available here: https://taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/TRANSCRIPT_Taxcast_Dec_23.pdf

"If the time of crisis imposes the time of change, then it's time for cooperation to take precedence over competition. It's time for international solidarity to take precedence over particular and selfish interest in the short term. African people are tired of numbers about assistance for development. They do not request more assistance. They request every partner running business, the physical or digital, individuals and companies making profit should pay the right price, the fair and just percentage in terms of tax. Then we could keep our promise to transforming our world, to ensuring the world we want, the future we want is a reality."

~ UN Representative from Cameroon

"It's a century waiting to have a globally inclusive body to set tax rules to throw over the decisions made by the League of Nations in the 1920s and 30s that we're all stuck with the consequences of today. We don't actually need tax rules that were set by the imperial powers, honestly, we can do better."

~ Alex Cobham, Tax Justice Network

Further reading:

The UN adopts plans for historic tax reform, Tax Justice Network

"No" voters on UN tax reform enable 75% of global tax abuse, Tax Justice Network

Follow developments on tax reform at the UN on the Tax Justice Network's live blog: Road to UN vote on global tax reform

Decolonising the International Tax System from Fadhel Kaboub's blog

A new UN Tax convention – how will it change global tax governance? From Martin Hearson

You can WATCH the vote at the UN here (the discussion on tax matters starts around 35 minutes)

More Taxcasts on https://www.thetaxcast.com

On the Taxcast this month, the story of what happened when the US tax authorities, the IRS, decided to crack down on Microsoft, one of the world's biggest tech companies. Worthy of a thriller movie with its twists and turns, there are many lessons for governments worldwide. And it's not over yet.

Featuring:

• Zorka Milin of the Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency Coalition
• Paul Kiel of ProPublica
• Samantha Jacoby of the Centre on Budget and Policy Priorities
• Andrew Leigh, MP and Australian Treasury
• Alex Cobham of the Tax Justice Network
• Hosted and produced by Naomi Fowler of the Tax Justice Network

Transcript (some is automated) https://taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Transcript_Taxcast_Nov_23.pdf

Further reading:

How a slick accounting maneuver led to a $29 billion tax bill for Microsoft https://fortune.com/2023/10/13/microsoft-back-taxes-irs-29-billion-propublica/

The IRS Decided to Get Tough Against Microsoft. Microsoft Got Tougher https://www.propublica.org/article/the-irs-decided-to-get-tough-against-microsoft-microsoft-got-tougher

What the Microsoft Tax Case Shows Us About Tax Transparency https://thefactcoalition.org/what-the-microsoft-tax-case-shows-us-about-tax-transparency/#:~:text=They%20had%20negotiated%20a%2015,Puerto%20Rico%20and%20the%20US.

FT confirms OECD lobbied against Australian tax transparency https://taxjustice.net/press/ft-confirms-oecd-lobbied-against-australian-tax-transparency/#:~:text=The%20law%20requires%20multinationals%20operating,tool%20for%20accountability%20and%20deterrence.

Microsoft, Cisco Shareholder Votes Demonstrate Increasing Investor Demand for Tax and Offshore Transparency https://thefactcoalition.org/microsoft-cisco-shareholder-votes-demonstrate-increasing-investor-demand-for-tax-and-offshore-transparency/

KPMG's pitch to Microsoft: 'Planning Alternatives in Puerto Rico' https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6556275-KPMG-2004-Pitch-to-Microsoft.html and Microsoft 2003 Memo on Puerto Rico Factory https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6556274-Microsoft-2003-Memo-on-Puerto-Rico-Factory.html

Bipartisan Senate Action Passes Minimal Test for IRS Funding While Multiple House Republican Bills Fail https://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-budget/bipartisan-senate-action-passes-minimal-test-for-irs-funding-while-multiple

Revenue From BBB's IRS Enforcement Funding Would Support Investments https://www.cbpp.org/blog/revenue-from-bbbs-irs-enforcement-funding-would-support-investments

UN adopts plans for historic tax reform https://taxjustice.net/press/un-adopts-plans-for-historic-tax-reform/

"No" voters on UN tax reform enable 75% of global tax abuse https://taxjustice.net/press/no-voters-on-un-tax-reform-enable-75-of-global-tax-abuse/

The US government has spent an estimated $1 trillion on their 'war on drugs.' But over 50 years later, the cross-border flows of illegal drugs, arms and money have increased. In the second part of a two part series, we look at the failed so-called 'war on drugs' - the movement to decriminalise, regulate and tax - opportunities, challenges for lower income nations, and the role of tax justice.

Featuring:

Associate Professor of International and Organised Crime at Bristol Law School, Dr Mary Young

Zara Snapp, co-founder of Instituto RIA

Sergio Chaparro Hernandez of the Tax Justice Network

Martin Drewry of Health Poverty Action

Max Gallien of the International Centre for Tax and Development and the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex

Eric Gutierrez, of the International Centre of Human Rights and Drug Policy

Taxcast host Naomi Fowler, co-produced with Jo Barratt of the Tax Justice Network

A transcript of the show available here: (some is automated) https://taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/The-Taxcast_Transcript_Oct_23.pdf

Further reading:

Invest in Justice, Jamaica Case Study https://www.investinjustice.net

Cannabis taxation – A new revenue source for development? https://www.ictd.ac/blog/cannabis-taxation-revenue-development/ Max Gallien and Giovanni Occhiali

Diverse models of legalisation https://newleftreview.org/sidecar/posts/high-income

Inside Mexico's war on drugs: Conversations with 'el narco' https://theconversation.com/inside-mexicos-war-on-drugs-conversations-with-el-narco-129865

Poverty, gender and violence in the narratives of former narcos: accounting for drug trafficking violence in Mexico (Karina Garcia-Reyes) https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/193726176/Final_Copy_2018_11_06_Garcia_K_G_PhD_Redacted.pdf

Debunking the Narco Myth: https://www.mexicoviolence.org/post/debunking-the-narco-myth

A world fit for money laundering: The Atlantic alliance's undermining of organised crime control: Young, Mary Alice; Woodiwiss, Michael https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/5935899

Organised crime and security threats in Caribbean Small Island Developing States: A Critical analysis of US assumptions and policies: Young, Mary; Woodiwiss, Michael https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/849208

The US government has spent an estimated $1 trillion on their 'war on drugs.' But, over more than 50 years, the cross-border flows of illegal drugs, arms and money have increased. It's a mess. And it didn't need to be this way. We look at the failed so-called 'war on drugs' and how to stop wasting precious lives. In part one of a two part series, we start with the supposed 'goodies' and the 'baddies.'

Featuring:

Criminology lecturer Karina Garcia-Reyes of the University of the West of England, author of Morir Es Un Alivio (Dying is a Relief) Las Reveladoras Historias De 12 Ex-narcos Que Lograron Escapar Del Crimen Organizado. Available in Spanish here https://www.amazon.co.uk/Morir-alivio-Dying-Relief-Reveladoras/dp/6070777298/ref=sr_1_1?crid=SC60TMBCGZVM&keywords=morir+es+un+alivio&qid=1674560099&sprefix=morir+es+un+alivio%2Caps%2C64&sr=8-1

Eric Gutierrez, of the International Centre of Human Rights and Drug Policy https://www.hr-dp.org/contents/1620

Associate Professor of International and Organised Crime at Bristol Law School, Dr Mary Young https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Mary-Young-13

Further Reading:

Inside Mexico's war on drugs: Conversations with 'el narco' https://theconversation.com/inside-mexicos-war-on-drugs-conversations-with-el-narco-129865

Poverty, gender and violence in the narratives of former narcos: accounting for drug trafficking violence in Mexico (Karina Garcia-Reyes) https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/193726176/Final_Copy_2018_11_06_Garcia_K_G_PhD_Redacted.pdf

Debunking the Narco Myth https://www.mexicoviolence.org/post/debunking-the-narco-myth

A world fit for money laundering: The Atlantic alliance's undermining of organised crime control: Young, Mary Alice; Woodiwiss, Michael https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/5935899

Organised crime and security threats in Caribbean Small Island Developing States: A Critical analysis of US assumptions and policies: Young, Mary; Woodiwiss, Michael https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/849208

More podcasts are available on our website https://www.thetaxcast.com where you can also subscribe.

We're experiencing the hottest global temperatures ever recorded. For millions of us, the climate crisis is already hitting hard. And we need to know, we must know - WHO are the beneficial owners of the climate crisis? It's surprisingly difficult to find out...

Featuring: Franziska Mager, Senior Researcher and Advocacy Lead (Climate & Inequalities), Tax Justice Network Dario Kenner, Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Sussex and author of the book Carbon Inequality Victor Galaz of the Stockholm Resilience Centre Peter Ringstad of Tax Justice Norway Andres Knobel, Lead Researcher (Beneficial Ownership), Tax Justice Network George Monbiot, Environmental campaigner and journalist Kenya's President William Ruto Hosted and produced by Naomi Fowler of the Tax Justice Network

Transcript of the show (some is automated) https://taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Transcript_Taxcast_July_23.pdf

All the Taxcasts are available here where you can also subscribe: https://www.thetaxcast.com

Further reading:

Beneficial ownership and fossil fuels: lifting the lid on who benefits: https://taxjustice.net/2023/06/30/beneficial-ownership-and-fossil-fuels-lifting-the-lid-on-who-benefits/

Delivering climate justice using the principles of tax justice: a guide for climate justice advocates https://taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Policy-brief-climate-justice_2206.pdf

Carbon Majors Report: https://cdn.cdp.net/cdp-production/cms/reports/documents/000/002/327/original/Carbon-Majors-Report-2017.pdf

Links to Dario Kenner's work: The Polluter Elite Database: https://whygreeneconomy.org/the-polluter-elite-database/ Carbon Inequality: the role of the richest in climate change https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/carbon-inequality-the-role-of-the-richest-in-climate-change-dario-kenner/2920056?ean=9780367727666 Lobbying and other tactics of big oil companies to delay the transition away from fossil fuels https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2021.102049

Why we need to look at how global oil and gas industry lobbies G20 governments and how this is slowing progress https://www.climatechangenews.com/2021/11/16/oil-gas-avoided-censure-glasgow-26th-time-lets-not-make-27/ Post-war reconstruction involved taxing the richest: https://theconversation.com/post-war-reconstruction-involved-taxing-richest-it-could-be-a-model-for-building-a-low-carbon-economy-137717

White knights, or horsemen of the apocalypse? Prospects for Big Oil to align emissions with a 1.5 °C pathway https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214629621001420

Carbon Billionaires, Oxfam report: https://policy-practice.oxfam.org/resources/carbon-billionaires-the-investment-emissions-of-the-worlds-richest-people-621446/

Cereal crops decimated by Europe's heatwave https://www.thegrocer.co.uk/sourcing/cereal-crops-decimated-by-europes-heatwave/681361.article

"I thought fossil fuel firms could change. I was wrong" https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2023/7/6/i-thought-fossil-fuel-firms-could-change-i-was-wrong

Stockholm Resilience Centre, the hidden environmental consequences of tax havens https://www.stockholmresilience.org/research/research-news/2018-08-13-the-hidden-environmental-consequences-of-tax-havens.html

New study raises red flags on tax haven role in environmental destruction https://www.icij.org/inside-icij/2018/08/new-study-raises-red-flags-on-tax-haven-role-in-environmental-destruction/

New data exposes the links between tax havens, deforestation and illegal fishing https://www.su.se/english/archive-news/research-news-archive/new-data-exposes-the-links-between-tax-havens-deforestation-and-illegal-fishing-1.396018

In this episode Naomi Fowler looks at how the very wealthy shape the world, why the rest of us really, really can't afford them. And, how it never ends just with the pet mansions and the cashmere-lined private jets, as the fascinating story of the EU Court of Justice ruling (reversing progress on public registers of beneficial owners of companies) demonstrates...But, there's plenty we can do about it!

Featuring:

• Florencia Lorenzo of the Tax Justice Network
• Mark Bou Mansour of the Tax Justice Network
• Brooke Harrington, Professor of economic sociology and wealth manager anthropologist
• Luc Caregari, journalist at https://www.reporter.lu in Luxembourg
• Also featuring: spoiled dogs, private jet business colleagues, a disillusioned youtube jet entrepreneur, a new jet owner and his excited friend, Kim Kardashian, Paris Hilton (plus her dogs and a reporter), a millionaire who's ditching his jet, author of 'How Bad Are Bananas?' Professor Mike Berners Lee, Dun & Bradstreet youtube briefing
• Produced and hosted by Naomi Fowler, Tax Justice Network

Here's a transcript of the show (some is automated) https://taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/The-Taxcast_transcript_June_2023.pdf

Further reading and viewing:

• Launching the Tax Justice Network's new climate initiative (there'll be more on this soon) https://taxjustice.net/2023/06/22/launching-the-tax-justice-networks-new-climate-initiative/
• How to stop Russian Oligarchs in Their Tracks, from the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists https://www.icij.org/investigations/russia-archive/analysis-of-icij-data-shows-how-to-stop-russian-oligarchs-in-their-tracks/
• Brooke Harrington speaks at Follow the Money – War, Climate and Tax Havens, a Tax Justice Norway event: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waY73LOEOUg
• Brooke Harrington interview on Offshore Wealth as a Complex System: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WiOzQryvd4
• Complex systems of secrecy: the offshore networks of oligarchs, by Ho-Chun Herbert Chang, Brooke Harrington, Feng Fu, Daniel N Rockmore: https://academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/article/2/3/pgad051/7059318
• This Luxembourg Businessman got Europe's Public Corporate Registries Shut Down: but whose privacy was he protecting? By Dragana Peco (OCCRP/KRIK), Alina Tsogoeva (OCCRP), Antonio Baquero (OCCRP), Tom Stocks (OCCRP), Luc Caregari (Reporter.lu), and Carina Huppertz (Paper Trail Media/Der Spiegel) https://www.occrp.org/en/beneficial-ownership-data-is-critical-in-the-fight-against-corruption/this-luxembourg-businessman-got-europes-corporate-registries-shut-down-but-whose-privacy-was-he-protecting
• Comparing the carbon footprint of private jets to owning pets is a waste of time: https://inews.co.uk/news/comparing-carbon-footprint-private-jets-owning-pets-waste-time-2373116
• Mishcon de Reya to continue to act for Russian clients, from Law.com International (pay wall) https://www.law.com/international-edition/2022/03/04/mishcon-de-reya-to-maintain-russian-vip-service/

When dominant multinationals get to run the world, it's not a happy place. Or a very secure one. For a long time governments have failed to take the threat from monopolies and the corporate concentration of power seriously, and deal with it. But recent crises have demonstrated how the neoliberal era is crumbling around us and governments must take action. In this episode we look at the challenges and how to tackle this in the public interest.

And, in the US, Minnesota nearly took a historic step for tax justice this month that could have changed everything by bringing corporate profit shifting to heel. The lobbyists said it was the end of the world as we know it - and sadly, they won - for now. What was the big deal? And what are the possibilities for other states and other countries?

Featuring:

• Nick Dearden of Global Justice Now
• Alex Cobham of the Tax Justice Network
• Nick Shaxson, Balanced Economy Project
• Stéphanie Yon-Courtin, MEP and Competition lawyer
• Christopher Gopal of the Global Supply Chain Center, University of Southern California
• Produced and hosted by the Tax Justice Network's Naomi Fowler

Transcript of the show: (some is automated) https://taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Transcript_The_Taxcast_May_2023.pdf

Further reading:

• Monopoly capitalism: What is it and how do we fight it? https://www.globaljustice.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Monopoly-capitalism-primer-WEB-FINAL.pdf
• The 5 'R's of tax: https://taxjustice.net/faq/what-are-the-four-rs-of-tax/ Actually the fifth one needs adding (Reparations, or Repair)
• Resisting Monopoly Capitalism (Global Justice Now event in London, March 2023) Opening plenary https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MszQ-aj_0a8
• Resisting Monopoly Capitalism - Closing plenary https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXbOzYKGizA
• Pharmanomics: How Big Pharma Destroys Global Health (published October 2023) https://www.versobooks.com/en-gb/products/3036-pharmanomics
• How Monopoly Threatens Democracy and Security, an Open Markets Institute and Balanced Economy Project event
• Corporate taxation to curb monopoly power: a brief history and a proposal https://taxjustice.net/2022/11/02/corporate-taxation-to-curb-monopoly-power-a-brief-history-and-a-proposal/
• Tax havens meet monopoly power: why national competitiveness harms competition https://taxjustice.net/2021/08/12/tax-havens-meet-monopoly-power-why-national-competitiveness-harms-competition/
• If tax havens scare you, monopolies should too. And vice versa. https://taxjustice.net/2019/11/01/if-tax-havens-scare-you-monopolies-should-too-and-vice-versa/
• How local, state, and federal tax policies in the us undermine small business and fuel corporate concentration https://taxjustice.net/2022/11/01/us-tax-monopoly/
• Reframing tax policy to reset the rules of the monopoly game https://taxjustice.net/2022/10/27/reframing-tax-policy-to-reset-the-rules-of-the-monopoly-game/
• To tackle corruption, start with monopoly power https://thecounterbalance.substack.com/p/to-tackle-corruption-start-with-monopoly
• Nick Shaxson: Leaving the Tax Justice Network (setting up the Balanced Economy Project - the journey) https://taxjustice.net/2023/05/19/nick-shaxson-leaving-the-tax-justice-network/

For more information and podcasts go to our website: https://www.thetaxcast.com

It's horrific that there are so many people across the world who still don't have access to 'survival rights.' Things like basic sanitation, clean water, quality education, decent healthcare so that mothers can survive childbirth - and so their children can even survive their childhood! This is where tax justice gets the most urgent, because tax literally saves lives. And we're going to prove it to you.

In this Taxcast edition, host Naomi Fowler talks to people who've looked at new data that demonstrates this. We wish every CEO, every company board member, every shareholder and every government minister in the world would read this report. Then look us in the eye and tell us why they're not moving every muscle in their body to do what is in their power to protect people, mothers and children. Because when they don't, they do have blood on their hands.

A transcript of the show is available here: https://taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Taxcast_April-2023_Transcript.pdf

Featuring:

• Eilish Hannah, University of St Andrews
• Alex Cobham, Tax Justice Network
• Rachel Etter-Phoya, Tax Justice Network
• Hosted and produced by Naomi Fowler, Tax Justice Network

More information and further reading available on our website https://www.thetaxcast.com