Financial Transparency Coalition

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...

James R. Hines Jr., a professor at the University of Michigan who is routinely wheeled out by the tax havens as an academic apologist for their activities, has written an academic article entitled “Treasure Islands” which contains an elementary, fundamental error in the very first paragraph:

“Tax havens are small: most are islands; all but a few have populations below one million.”

If Hines has spent any time studying the offshore phenomenon, then he will know very well that the world’s biggest tax havens (or secrecy jurisdictions) — those that offer tax haven services – are large OECD economies or their...

Media Coverage Report Card: Trending Accountability Global Financial Integrity evaluates the Media’s current coverage of corporate tax dodging and tax havens Corporate tax shenanigans have been in the news a lot lately. Here’s a quick guide to the stories currently shaping the debate over US tax policy and raising the “injustice level” from “amusingly frustrated” to “Shut-Down Congress Red.”

Tax havens have gotten a lot of press lately. In Britain, the UK Uncut movement has mounted demonstrations across the country against tax dodging by large corporations and wealthy individuals – making the connection between profits parked abroad and deficits and budget cuts at home. Last month in the U.S., The New York Times revealed that GE, one of the nation’s largest companies, earned 46% of its revenue in the U.S. over the last three years but booked less than one-fifth of its profits there, shifting most of its booked profits to low-tax countries. In 2010,...