Financial Transparency Coalition

Rarely have developing countries been more vocal and united on a question of international taxation. The vexed question of the status of the arcane-sounding “Committee of Experts on International Cooperation in Tax Matters” is hotting up, after rich and poor countries clashed at a United Nations meeting last month. The UN tax committee is charged with promoting international cooperation to deal with important issues such as taxing multinational companies across borders, and sharing best practice between countries. It has a specific mandate to take into account the specific needs of developing countries, which is why developing countries want to see...

Recently we wrote a blog, entitled "Jeffrey Sachs joins the tax justice movement, sort of," after he wrote some superb (but incomplete) things in the Financial Times about the race to the bottom on corporate tax. Well, now he has a new piece on Project Syndicate, to which we have already briefly linked, but which is worth expanding on. It's entitled The Global Economy’s Corporate Crime Wave, and it's excellent, all the way through. We are particularly excited by this section:

"We will need to light the dark corners of international finance, especially tax havens like the Cayman Islands and...

The FT reports:

Britons with billions of pounds hidden in Switzerland will pay tax at 50 per cent under a groundbreaking deal that will legitimise their undeclared assets, according to a source familiar with negotiations between the Swiss and British governments. The agreement, which is expected to be announced this month, marks a shift in emphasis in the international crackdown on tax havens. Over the past two years, the focus has been on lifting bank secrecy and exposing evaders. Under the deal, £3bn is expected to be raised over the course of this parliament and investors will also pay a one-off...

The following is for all serious offshore aficionados.  It comes form the person I think the foremost expert on the European Union Savings Tax Directive - Mark Morris, and is from his blog, with permission. What it says is at the end of the day simple, but vitally important, and that is that iof the European Union Savings Tax Directive is amended as the EU desires then Liechtenstein's secrecy is cracked open. Which is very welcome indeed. Over to Mark: "Liechtenstein is home to nearly 100,000 entities and legal arrangements which are effectively untaxed. These structure are used for succession planning, creditor protection, family support...