Financial Transparency Coalition

Towards Transparency: Making the Global Financial System Work for Development, the Financial Transparency Coalition 2013 Conference, will take place in Dar es Salaam on October 1-2. To join in the discussion, or ask questions of the panel, Tweet us using the #FTCDar2013 hashtag, or follow FTC on Twitter at @FinTrCo.

They say all is fair in love and war.  But what about tax?

Our panel at the 2013 Financial Transparency Coalition, Ending the Race to the Bottom: Finance in a Cooperative World, will discuss many of the pressing tax issues facing countries, both in Africa and throughout the developing world. I will moderate the panel.

Where are the boundaries on how one countries tax policies impact on another?  Is it okay to entice a business to move a factory because of a lower tax rate?  Is it okay to entice a business to move the registration of its patents and trademarks, but no actual employees, because of a lower tax rate?  Is it okay to entice a business to set up conduit companies in their complex structure that have no or minimal employees but allow a company to save significant taxes?

What are the duties of one country to another in helping enforce taxation of international actors?  Should countries be obliged to automatically share information with others about the assets and financial activities of foreign companies and individuals?  Should countries be obliged collect and share information on the foreign tax planning strategies of their registered companies?  Do countries that regulate the headquarters of multinational companies have duties towards the countries those companies operate in?  Do the countries who have designed the rules and regulations for international finance have duties towards developing countries to helping them enforce their tax rules?

In a globalised world where businesses are increasingly mobile do countries have any alternative to a race to the bottom in taxes to attract multinational businesses and high net worth individuals?  In a globalised world where businesses are increasingly mobile do countries have any alternative to ensuring the highest quality of tax funded public services to provide the infrastructure, skilled and educated workforce and attractive business environment for multinational businesses and high net worth individuals?

In Ending the Race to the Bottom: Finance in a Cooperative World, I’m hoping that our panellists will address at least some of these issues, and help us understand not just the challenges of operating national tax systems in a globalised world, but how we can respond to these challenges in a way that delivers results for all sections of society.