Financial Transparency Coalition

Marina Hyde wrote a great article for The Guardian on Friday. As we’ve seen in the media, tax avoidance schemes and scandals are popping up everywhere. Jimmy Carr’s explosive case exemplifies this upward trend of tax avoidance. Hyde brings to light one particular way (of numerous ways) in which Brits are getting rich from skipping out on their tax bill: they make shoddy “Britflicks.”

Switzerland has just signed a ‘Rubik’ deal with Austria which protects banks secrecy in return for an anonymous tax being returned to Austria. This is similar to the ruinous Rubik deals made with Britain and Germany. This deal, which must be ratified by both countries’ parliaments, makes public a covert Swiss-Austrian alliance to block EU cooperation against tax dodgers and prevent automatic exchange of tax information between European governments.

Latindadd and other civil society organisations recently sent their contributions to the UK parliamentary inquiry into tax in developing countries. In its call, the International Development Committee of the UK parliament highlighted that “developing countries lose an estimated $ 160 billion each year through tax avoidance by multinational companies (including those based in the UK)” and the important role of the extractive industries, “where payments to governments are often not disclosed and may not contribute to development or poverty reduction.”

LONDON - Global Witness welcomes news that the British regulator, the Financial Services Authority (FSA), has fined Coutts bank for failing to do enough to prevent corrupt funds from flowing through its accounts.