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  

After 30 years on the run, Italy's most wanted fugitive Matteo Messina Denaro of the Cosa Nostra has been arrested in Sicily. We look at the costs of organised crime, both economic and societal, the contagion that financial secrecy facilitates, and how to reverse the rot. Secrecy jurisdictions and tax havens have made it possible for mafiosi to progress from crossing physical borders with bank notes stuffed in suitcases, to being able to pour unlimited amounts of money into the financial system. Dirty money in, ‘clean’ money out. That money destabilises economies and corrupts democracies, while organised crime toxifies societies. The problem is that financial secrecy and tax havens are also the friend of commerce, multinationals and wealthy, powerful people worldwide... Featuring: Professor of Criminology, Federico Varese Journalist, Stefano Vergine Surgeon in Malta and opinon piece writer, Kevin Cassar Hosted and produced by Naomi Fowler of the Tax Justice Network Transcript available here: https://taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Taxcast_Transcript_Feb_2023.pdf (Some is automated) Our website (with links to further reading) is available here: https://www.thetaxcast.com 

In this extended special episode of the Taxcast, we look at the 'Desai Papers' - the story you probably never heard of: it goes back decades and looks at a key player in the making of tax haven Mauritius that's been hurting Indians and Africans ever since. We speak with a whistleblower and the journalist who broke the story. Is the Indian government investigating? What does the story tell us about the global economy? Transcript available here (some is automated) https://taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/The-Taxcast-Transcript-Jan-2023.pdf  Our website is https:///www.thetaxcast.com 

There's been a shift in global power, a tax justice milestone, and the powerful nations couldn't stop it... In this episode, Naomi Fowler gives you a fly-on-the-wall take on what happened at the United Nations on November 24th 2022. We look at the power plays around a fundamental global power shift - the beginning of the end of the OECD’s 60 year reign as the world’s leading rule-maker on global tax. Featuring: Alex Cobham of the Tax Justice Network Rachel Etter-Phoya of the Tax Justice Network The UN Chairperson, UN Secretary and UN representatives of Nigeria, South Africa, the United States, the United Kingdom, Singapore, Liechtenstein, Republic of Korea, and Eritrea.  Produced and hosted by the Tax Justice Network's Naomi Fowler. Transcript (some is automated) https://taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/The-Taxcast_Transcript_Dec_22.pdf WATCH this historic UN meeting here (starts about 20 minutes in): https://media.un.org/en/asset/k1b/k1bummpe5z  Further reading: https://taxjustice.net/2022/11/22/%f0%9f%94%b4-live-blog-un-vote-on-new-tax-leadership-role/ https://taxjustice.net/2022/12/15/un-resolution-for-an-intergovernmental-tax-framework-what-does-it-mean-and-whats-next/ https://taxjustice.net/press/un-adopts-historic-decision-to-take-on-new-tax-leadership/ https://taxjustice.net/press/un-secretary-general-signals-support-for-un-tax-convention/  Our podcast website is https://www.thetaxcast.com   

In this episode, Taxcast host Naomi Fowler discusses sovereignty, the 'boomerang effect' and the relevance of the 'Third World Movement' today to our global economic system, with Dr Kojo Koram, author of Uncommon Wealth: Britain and the Aftermath of Empire. "Decolonisation, from the 1950s and 1970s, was quite simply the greatest multiplication of democratic power that the world has ever seen" Plus, we look at two big failures this month: the collapse of crypto exchange company FTX (secrecy jurisdictions, enablers, investigations...) the Tax Justice Network writes an open letter to alert the G20 to the failings of the OECD as global tax rule-setter, as they miss another deadline. A transcript of the podcast is available here: (Some is automated) https://taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/The-Taxcast-transcript-Nov-22-1.pdf "The kind of loss of feeling of control in the United Kingdom, that loss of feeling of sovereignty, that loss of feeling of democratic accountability is connected to the erosion of sovereignty and erosion of democratic accountability that was allowed to happen to the former colonies of particularly the British Empire but all empires. What happens in the colonies doesn't simply stay there, but it comes back on the homeland and it starts to impact how its economy, its society, and its politics operates. And I think that's a lot of what we see in Britain right up until today.” Featuring: Dr Kojo Koram of Birkbeck, University of London and author of Uncommon Wealth: Britain and the Aftermath of Empire. Alex Cobham, Tax Justice Network Professor Nouriel Roubini speaking in the UAE Taxcast host and producer, Naomi Fowler, Tax Justice Network Further reading: Kojo Koram's book Uncommon Wealth: Britain and the Aftermath of Empire is published by John Murray Press: https://uk.bookshop.org/books/uncommon-wealth-britain-and-the-aftermath-of-empire/9781529338621  Governments can recover billions from tax havens by publishing withheld transparency data https://taxjustice.net/press/governments-can-recover-billions-from-tax-havens-by-publishing-withheld-transparency-data/  UN Secretary General signals support for UN tax convention: https://taxjustice.net/press/un-secretary-general-signals-support-for-un-tax-convention/  Tax Justice Network's Open letter to G20 on OECD failure to deliver on G20 mandates https://taxjustice.net/2022/11/15/open-letter-to-g20-oecd-failure-to-deliver-on-g20-mandates/ Why Didn't the Government Stop the Crypto Scam? by Matt Stoller: https://mattstoller.substack.com/p/why-didnt-the-government-stop-the  The World Series of Crypto Rackets, by Judd Legum: https://t.co/wEh4TihGYz Seven politicians are returning FTX's tainted money — others are keeping quiet, by Judd Legum and Rebecca Crosby: https://popular.info/p/seven-politicians-are-returning-ftxs  WATCH ~ BOOMERANG: Empire and Britain's economy (featuring Kojo Koram): https://youtu.be/kmOK4tNc31A 

In this episode: Nelson Mandela famously said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” Yet millions of children in the world still don’t even get to walk through the school door. This month on the Taxcast host Naomi Fowler looks at education and tax justice. The challenges, and the ways forward. Plus, we explore two important developments which really pushes forward steps towards a UN Tax Convention: the economic commission for Africa, the declaration of their finance ministers calling for the UN to begin negotiations on the convention (that's more than a quarter of the member countries of the United Nations) plus the head of the United Nations has pledged his support for negotiations. How will wealthier nations, who are too often the world's worst offenders for draining tax revenue from other nations, now respond? Transcript: (some is automated) https://taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/The-Taxcast_Oct_22_Transcript.pdf  For more information and more Taxcasts, go to https://www.thetaxcast.com 

In this episode, Taxcast host and producer Naomi Fowler explores tax as a tool for racial justice and the launch of a new report by Decolonising Economics. "There's a real opportunity for mobilising towards transformative policies that'll work not just for racialised communities in the UK but for everyone feeling the pains of this economic system" ~ Guppi Bola, Decolonising Economics, author of the report “Tax as a Tool for Racial Justice”. Transcript of the show: https://taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/The-Taxcast.-Sept-2022-Transcript.pdf Links to past Taxcasts on reparational and tax justice, plus a video of the launch of new report: Tax as a Tool for Racial Justice and other useful resources available here: https://taxjustice.net/2022/09/19/tax-as-a-tool-for-racial-justice-new-report-launched/   

In this episode Taxcast host Naomi Fowler investigates the phenomenon of pop-up sweet shops on Oxford Street and the missing millions in taxes owed. The trail leads to the disgrace that is the UK's company registration process, making the UK Crime Central for any crook who comes along. It's not just the UK that exposes its citizens to risks, it hurts people across the world too. Transcript of the show is available here: https://taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/The-Taxcast-Transcript-July-2022.pdf  Taxcast website with more Taxcasts: https://www.thetaxcast.com  "It is ridiculous that you have to take more identification to get a library card to borrow a book than you do to create a limited liability company, which potentially is a cost to the taxpayer if you go bust, it is bonkers and it should stop" Graham Barrow of The Dark Money Files podcast. "I came across a situation where for tax avoidance reasons, thousands of companies were being set up at the same time, with the same individual as the director. And in some cases there was 2000 companies being set up in the same day with the same individual as a director, and it wasn't raising any flag. You hear it all the time, you know, 'oh well, we'll learn the lessons,' but we never really seem to learn the lessons. The next scandal is a variation on a theme of the previous scandal.” ~ former tax inspector Ray McCann "How did the UK end up at the centre of so many crimes? It's incredibly easy - go online, go onto the Companies House website - that's our company registry - pay 12 pounds and you too can have a shell company. I registered one myself - it took me less than 24 hours to receive the deeds showing I owned the company. I called it Crooked Crook Crook which I thought was pretty funny, but it turned out that actually I was being fairly unimaginative by the standards of international criminals." ~ journalist and anti-corruption campaigner, Oliver Bullough Further reading and information here: BBC coverage of pop-up sweet shops on Oxford Street https://youtu.be/yXeXw91_H0k  Time to Return Integrity to the UK Corporate Registry. Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies video featuring Oliver Bullough https://youtu.be/LHTmRPtMXs8  The Dark Money Files podcast https://t.co/ktKHci06dK  German company registration process (for the purposes of comparison) https://www.lawyersgermany.com/company-registration-in-germany

Annual shareholder’s meetings used to be pretty staid and boring affairs. But, as inequality has boomed along with corporate profits, AGMs are becoming sites of protest. In this episode Naomi Fowler speaks to Katie Hepworth of PIRC and Jason Ward of CICTAR about the recent challenge to Amazon on tax transparency from shareholders. How did the challenge unfold and what was the result? What does it tell us about progress on principles that as societies are increasingly important to us? A transcript available here (some is automated) https://taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/The-Taxcast-transcript_June_22.pdf  Our website with more podcasts is here: https://www.thetaxcast.com/  Further reading: https://www.statista.com/statistics/272258/percentage-of-shareholders-in-the-total-population-of-selected-countries/ https://www.businessinsider.com/no-the-average-stock-holding-period-is-not-11-seconds-2010-10?r=US&IR=T The Taxcast in 2014 covering Google's annual shareholder meeting tax transparency challenge: https://youtu.be/lFSfWvdedt4?t=1226  Amazon’s Tribulations And The Future Of Tax Transparency, Nana Ama Sarfo https://www.forbes.com/sites/taxnotes/2022/05/31/amazons-tribulations-and-the-future-of-tax-transparency/  https://www.globalreporting.org/    

Which nations are the world's biggest financial secrecy offenders? And what does it tell us about the world, about politics and about democracy? How high does your country rank in facilitating global corruption? In this episode Taxcast host Naomi Fowler explores the shocking results of the Tax Justice Network's Financial Secrecy Index 2022.  Guests: Alex Cobham, head of the Tax Justice Network Ryan Gurule, of the FACT Coalition Read all about the Financial Secrecy Index here: https://fsi.taxjustice.net/  Our website with more podcasts is here: https://www.thetaxcast.com/ 

On the Taxcast we ask - do politicians believe in the societies they serve or not? Are they really a part of them, or do they live in a parallel world with different rules to ordinary people? The so-called 'NonDom' scandal goes all the way to Downing Street, the heart of the British government and the UK Chancellor/Finance Minister whose wife is taking advantage of an archaic tax status that leads to reduced taxes on her inherited fortune - just as her husband raises taxes on everyone else.  In this episode Taxcast host Naomi Fowler explores the results of revealing new work on the data with economist Arun Advani of Warwick University: and co-author of a new report "The UK’s ‘non-doms’: Who are they, what do they do, and where do they live?' Economist John Christensen speaks on the breaking of the social contract and the need for a new set of governing principles to re-establish fairness for all regardless of wealth in all nations. Transcript of the podcast (some is automated) Further reading and listening: Report: The UK’s ‘non-doms’: Who are they, what do they do, and where do they live? https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/economics/research/centres/cage/manage/publications/bn36.2022.pdf  Taxcast interview with journalist and anti-corruption campaigner in Pakistan, Umar Cheema, on his inspirational achievement in making Pakistan only the fourth country in the world to publish the tax returns of its Parliamentarians https://taxjustice.net/2015/05/22/the-tax-justice-network-podcast-may-2015/ The Wealth Tax Commission: https://www.ukwealth.tax/the-team  Tax Legislation in the UK Benefits the Interests of the Rich:  https://leftfootforward.org/2022/04/prof-prem-sikka-tax-legislation-in-the-uk-benefits-the-interests-of-the-rich/ 

In this episode of the Taxcast, Naomi Fowler speaks with journalist and anti-corruption campaigner Oliver Bullough about his new book ‘Butler to the World: how Britain became the servant of tycoons, tax dodgers, kleptocrats and criminals.’  "You cannot have unquestioning acceptance of the wealthy AND democracy. You can't treat everyone the same before the law AND give rich people anything they want, because rich people want to have immunity from the law. Do you want democracy, or do you want to be a Butler?" With Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine, even the most hardcore 'let the planet burn' believers can no longer deny that fossil fuel dependency is a national and an international security issue. We know the resource curse goes hand in hand with corruption. Is this a time like no other for the world to finally see that the key to it all is financial secrecy? Transcript of the show: https://taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/The-Taxcast-March-22-Transcript.pdf  Link to Oliver Bullough's book ‘Butler to the World: how Britain became the servant of tycoons, tax dodgers, kleptocrats and criminals.’ https://uk.bookshop.org/books/butler-to-the-world-how-britain-became-the-servant-of-tycoons-tax-dodgers-kleptocrats-and-criminals-9781800812734/9781800812734  Further reading:  Why has no progress been made on an international financial registry? https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/mar/16/russia-rich-wealthy-western-elites-thomas-piketty  The ‘Wild West’ of Scottish Limited Partnerships, covered on the Taxcast: https://taxjustice.net/2016/01/22/the-january-2016-tax-justice-network-podcast/  The resource curse and the finance curse, hand in hand with ‘Butler Britain’ (and other tax havens and secrecy jurisdictions.) Includes the Taxcast interview with Daria Kaleniuk of Ukraine's Anti-Corruption Action Centre: https://taxjustice.net/2022/03/03/ukraine-russia-the-finance-curse-and-the-resource-curse-goes-hand-in-hand-with-financial-secrecy/  10 measures to expose sanctioned Russian oligarchs' hidden assets: https://taxjustice.net/press/10-measures-to-expose-sanctioned-russian-oligarchs-hidden-assets/  Our website: https://www.thetaxcast.com 

In this episode we bring you the story of a pensioner robbed of his dream retirement and his fight for justice in multiple jurisidctions. Tax havens and secrecy jurisdictions don't just hurt us because they're places of impunity for the rich and for criminals. Quite ordinary people can get caught up in them too. And when thngs go bad, it becomes clear how toxic these places are, and that you may not get the help from regulators and law enforcement that you really need. Plus, we share the news of a great loss to Malawi and to the world of tax official Mr Alinafe Bonongwe, who was taken from us for doing his job bravely and in the public interest. You can read more about him here: https://taxjustice.net/2022/02/17/in-honour-of-a-tax-collector-taken-from-us-in-the-line-of-duty/ May he rest in peace. Here's the transcript of the show: https://taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Taxcast_Feb_22_TRANSCRIPT.pdf And here's our website with more Taxcasts: https:///www.thetaxcast.com 

In the first Taxcast for 2022, Naomi Fowler talks with tax justice and anti-corruption campaigners and experts in Europe, Africa, the US and Latin America. What are our hopes and fears for 2022? And what should we be looking out for? The transcript of the show is available here: https://taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/The-Taxcast-Jan-22-Transcript.pdf  Further information: Paper questioning the legal validity of the IMF’s Stand-By Arrangement with Argentina by Kariina Patricio Ferreira Lima: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4004595 The Tax Justice Network's monthly podcast for French-speaking Africans is available here: https://www.thetaxcast.com/?lang=fr  A previous Taxcast which includes more information on Kenya's Financial Transaction Tax https://taxjustice.net/2020/12/17/taxing-wall-street-the-tax-justice-network-december-2020-podcast/  The ‘cowboy cocktail’ in Wyoming story from the ICIJ Our website with more Taxcasts and information is here: https://www.thetaxcast.com 

In edition 117 we take you to the tax haven of Jersey off the coast of France and the intruiging story of the discovery of 333 boxes of incriminating evidence of fraud. Those boxes have revealed some ugly truths about this small island tax haven that affect us all.  The transcript is available here (some is automated and may not be 100% accurate): https://taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/The-Taxcast_transcript_edition-117.pdf  You can hear the Taxcast edition on rising inequality and dysfunction in Jersey here: https://taxjustice.net/2019/04/26/inequality-and-dysfunction-in-the-tax-haven-of-jersey-a-taxcast-special-edition/  You can also read more about this story on the following links: https://www.institutionalinvestor.com/article/b1qwpnk6j1zv70/The-Heiress-the-Queen-and-the-Trillion-Dollar-Tax-Shelter https://eic.network/blog/huge-new-tax-haven-leak-reveals-specialist-money-laundering-company   https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2020-10-05/lost-trust-leaked-files-expose-jerseys-inaction-on-fraud-scandal

In this episode: Ireland only has 0.1% of the world’s population, but they became one of the biggest tax havens on the planet. What’s that meant for Irish people, and their road ahead? Naomi Fowler speaks with authors of a new book Tax Haven Ireland. There's a special deal for Taxcast listeners for the paperback or the ebook version, wherever you are in the world. Go to the publisher’s website, PLuto Books: https://www.plutobooks.com/9780745345314/tax-haven-ireland/  and enter the code TAX40. Also: we discuss the latest Tax Justice Network's annual State of Tax Justice report. You can check out how your country threatens others, and/or how it suffers at the hands of other offender nations here: https://taxjustice.net/reports/the-state-of-tax-justice-2021/  Transcript of the show: https://taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/TaxcastTranscript_Nov_21.pdf  You can read more about the finance curse here: https://taxjustice.net/topics/the-finance-curse/  The true costs of the City of London (How the City of London is making us poorer) https://taxjustice.net/2018/10/05/how-the-city-of-london-makes-us-all-poorer-infographic/  The true costs of the US finance sector is available here: Overcharged: The High Cost of High Finance https://rooseveltinstitute.org/publications/overcharged-the-high-cost-of-high-finance/ 

In this episode Taxcast host Naomi Fowler discusses degrowth, rethinking economies and value in part 2 of her conversation with economic anthropologist Jason Hickel. Plus: the Pandora Papers - 3 things the latest offshore leak is showing us. Why some countries rejected the OECD's 15% minimum global corporate tax deal And, as COP26 begins in Scotland, it's the 'last chance saloon' to take meaningful action to minimise ecological disaster - can politicians learn from nations leading the way with good policies on energy? A transcript is available here: https://taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/The-Taxcast-Oct-21.pdf  You can find out more about Jason Hickel's books, Less Is More and The Divide here: https://www.jasonhickel.org/  Our website is here with more Taxcasts: https://www.thetaxcast.com

In this episode, Naomi Fowler explores degrowth and how we liberate ourselves from ‘growthism’ with economic anthropologist Jason Hickel. (The full converation will be released soon as a Taxcast Extra, the full thing is too good to miss!) Plus: there can be no liberation without tackling monopoly power, or the role of finance sectors and States, investing in death and destruction across the world. Here's our website with more Taxcasts: https://www.thetaxcast.com The transcript is available here https://taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Transcript_September_21_Taxcast.pdf  The People's Agreement of Cochabamba is here: https://www.climateemergencyinstitute.com/uploads/Peoples_climate_agreement.pdf 

This month Naomi Fowler speaks with Paul Caruana Galizia, one of the sons of Malta’s incredible investigative journalist and anti-corruption champion Daphne Caruana Galizia, who was assassinated in 2017. Paul Caruana Galizia discusses his mother's legacy, the capture of Malta through an aggressive, over-sized finance sector with financial secrecy at its heart, and his hopes for the future. The transcript is available here: https://taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/The-Taxcast-July-21-Transcript.pdf  As mentioned in the show, here's a video of the story of the 'firestarters of the tax justice movement' from the tax haven of Jersey: https://youtu.be/VXeLGd7ejAw  The Taxcast special on the tax haven of Jersey: https://www.taxjustice.net/2019/04/26/inequality-and-dysfunction-in-the-tax-haven-of-jersey-a-taxcast-special-edition/  The Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation: https://www.daphne.foundation  Here's our website with more Taxcasts: https://www.thetaxcast.com   

We’ve had the honour before on the Taxcast of speaking with law Professor Dorothy Brown in Part 1 of the Whiteness of Wealth Taxcast Extra. She’s been doing trailblazing work on systemic racism and tax justice in the United States for many years. She’s author of the seminal book ‘The Whiteness of Wealth: how the US tax system impoverishes black Americans – and how we can fix it’. In this Taxcast Extra, you can hear Professor Brown’s keynote speech which she gave to the Tax Justice Network’s annual conference. A transcript of her edited keynote speech is available here https://taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/TranscriptTaxcastEXtra150721.pdf  You can also hear Professor Brown in conversation with Taxcast host Naomi Fowler and polticial economist Keval Bharadia in Part 1 of the Whiteness of Wealth, in this Taxcast Extra. You may also be interested to hear Taxcast episodes 102 and 103 where we looked at just some of the complex issues around tax and race in the US and the UK context, the roots of structural racism and the lived experiences of people of colour today as citizens, taxpayers and economic actors.  For more Taxcasts and more information, go to our website on https://www.thetaxcast.com 

This month Taxcast host Naomi Fowler talks to millionaire and wealth tax campaigner Djaffar Shalchi of Millionaires for Humanity about his experience of moving from Iran at an early age to grow up in Denmark, and how highly he values the high tax Scandinavian society, as an entrepreneur, and as a human being. He also talks about his campaign for a 1% wealth tax on the world’s top 1%. Plus: US President Biden drops his proposal for a minimum global corporate tax rate from 21% to 'at least 15%.' However, so far the US administration is sticking to its plan to invest $80 billion in its tax authority, the IRS. Tax collectors will be able to refocus on the wealthiest and on corporate profits. Tax collectors could pull in an additional $700 billion over the next decade. And also, how degrowth must begin with the very wealthy.  The transcript is available here: https://www.taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/The-Taxcast-Transcript-112.pdf  For more information on the Taxcast, the website is here: https://www.thetaxcast.com 

In this Taxcast Extra Naomi Fowler speaks to Jim Henry, economist, lawyer, investigative journalist and Tax Justice Network senior advisor about the campaign to persuade New York State (which is broke) to reinstate its (tiny) Stock Transfer Tax. It would have created an important precedent for the world but for now, Wall Street has escaped. At the same time, in Hong Kong they have raised their Stock Transfer Tax in an example of “tax competition in reverse,“ or a “race to the top.” The transcript of this podcast is available here (some is automated and may not be 100% accurate)  https://www.taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/TaxcastExtra_27_04_21.pdf  Further reading/listening: Edition #107 of the Taxcast explores how transformative financial transactions taxes could be https://www.taxjustice.net/2020/12/17/taxing-wall-street-the-tax-justice-network-december-2020-podcast/  Submission to New York State Assembly: the case for financial transactions taxes https://www.taxjustice.net/2021/02/19/submission-to-new-york-state-assembly-the-case-for-financial-transactions-taxes/  A Wall Street tax that could lift many out of poverty already exists — it's just not being collected https://www.salon.com/2020/11/01/a-wall-street-tax-that-could-lift-many-out-of-poverty-already-exists--its-just-not-being-collected/  Keval Bharadia's "Recalibrating financial transaction tax policy narratives": https://www.taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Recalibrating-financial-transaction-tax-policy-narratives-Keval-Bharadia.pdf More Taxcasts are available on https://www.thetaxcast.com and we're on most podcast apps. Or you can subscribe by emailing naomi@taxjustice.net 

Caring for others is the highest thing anyone can do in this world. Yet our governments don’t value care either in the policies they create, and they don’t value it monetarily. We look at how we move from an un-caring economy to a caring economy, how women's unpaid work is the greatest subsidy to our so-called productive economy, and how we need to rethink 'the economic.' Plus - we analyse President Biden's global minimum tax plans - who wins and who loses? Is it game over for tax havens? The transcript is available here https://www.taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/The-Taxcast-Transcript-Edition-111.pdf  Further reading: There is a flaw in the Biden tax plpan that has to be addressed if it's going to work, and that's in the accounting, Professor Richard Murphy https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2021/04/16/there-is-a-flaw-in-the-biden-tax-plan-that-has-to-be-addressed-if-its-going-to-work-and-thats-in-the-accounting/  The Care Manifesto: the politics of interdependence is available here https://uk.bookshop.org/books/the-care-manifesto-the-politics-of-compassion/9781839760969  For a longer list of fantastic resources on the Care Economy, please see https://www.thetaxcast.com/from-an-un-caring-economy-to-a-caring-economy-111/   

Law Professor Dorothy Brown speaks with political economist Keval Bharadia and Taxcast host and producer Naomi Fowler about her book just released in the United States called: ‘The Whiteness of Wealth: how the US tax system impoverishes black Americans – and how we can fix it.’ Transcript with additional links to further reading: https://www.taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/TaxcastExtraScript0421.pdf  The Taxcast website: https://www.thetaxcast.com   

Much of the world is run on the basis of economic theories that have become accepted truths of our era. But they actually have very little evidence to back them up. This month, Naomi Fowler speaks to finance journalist and writer Tom Bergin on how economics ruins economies and puts economists in the dock. The details of Tom's book, Free Lunch Thinking: how economics ruins the economy is available here: https://uk.bookshop.org/books/free-lunch-thinking-how-economics-ruins-the-economy/9781847942739  Plus: which nations are the world's worst offenders for helping multinational corporations pay less tax than they should? The results of the Tax Justice Network's Corporate Tax Haven Index 2021 are out. Read more here: https://www.corporatetaxhavenindex.com  Here's the transcript of the show (may not be 100% accurate) https://www.taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Transcript_Taxcast_March_21-1.pdf 

In this month's episode: we know the world’s broken. Apparently we need $9 trillion to fix it. We find out how we can pay for the pandemic and a just transition with Ben Tippet of the Transnational Institute. Plus: Casino Capitalism: what really happened with the Gamestop frenzy and what does it tell us about 'investment?' You can read the Transnational Institute report here: https://longreads.tni.org/paying-for-just-transition Transcript of the show available here: https://www.taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Taxcast_trascript_Feb21.pdf

This month Naomi Fowler speaks to activist and writer Ben Phillips about how past struggles for justice were won and how we can win them again. We discuss valuable lessons he learned from living and working around the world which he writes about in his book How To Fight Inequality and why that fight needs you. https://uk.bookshop.org/books/how-to-fight-inequality-and-why-that-fight-needs-you/9781509543090 Plus: Why is the Chinese economy so successful? Naomi discusses with John Christensen the rise of China and, unless they chuck shareholder capitalism, the continuing demise of the US and the UK. Transcript available here. https://www.thetaxcast.com

This month we take a look at the transformative power of financial transactions taxes. There’s a chance that New York, home to two of the world's largest stock exchanges, could be about to set an important precedent. We go to Kenya o look at its experience with a financial transactions tax. And we see how much further the tax could go. Plus: we discuss three major waves of change in 2020: the black lives matter protests, Trump’s departure from the Whitehouse and the end of the Brexiteers dream. More information on this podcast is available on https://www.thetaxcast.com Further reading: You can read Keval Bharadia's paper "Recalibrating financial transaction tax policy narratives" here: https://www.taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Recalibrating-financial-transaction-tax-policy-narratives-Keval-Bharadia.pdf You can look at his slides on Recalibrating financial transactions tax policy narratives for reparations here: https://www.taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Recalibrating-ftt-policy-narratives-for-reparations-Keval-Bharadia-slide-pack-04-Dec-20.pdf You can read about the efforts towards a financial transactions tax in New York here: https://www.salon.com/2020/11/01/a-wall-street-tax-that-could-lift-many-out-of-poverty-already-exists--its-just-not-being-collected/ Transcript available here https://www.taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Transcript-1.pdf (some is automated and may not be 100% accurate)

This month: we look at the terrible Beirut explosion and how the story of tracing those responsible tells us everything that's wrong with our world. Plus, we discuss what President-elect Biden's win could mean for tax and economic policies: one thing with big potential could be tackling monopoly corporate power which has cross-party support. The transcript is available here https://www.taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/TranscriptNov2020.pdf

This month we go on a reparational justice journey and speak to the Council for World Mission about their Legacies of Slavery project and economist and reparations specialist Priya Lukka. Plus: austerity's out, public investment is now in?! We discuss the IMF's hypocritical turn around - now poorer countries need apologies and restitution.. The transcript of the show is available here. Subscribe to the Taxcast by emailing naomi@taxjustice.net

In this episode: How a competition lawyer's eyes were opened to the dangers of letting companies get too big and form monopolies which act against our interests. We talk to Michelle Meagher about her book just out: Competition is Killing Us: How Big Business is Harming Our Society and Planet - and What To Do About It.  Plus: not everything is bad news at the moment! We look at the revival of support and progress on financial transactions taxes in New York, some slow advances in the EU on multinationals publishing their accounts, and the significance of the latest leaks revealing corruption in major global banks, the FinCEN Files Transcript available here (not 100% accurate)

How do we stop ourselves sleepwalking into another Great Depression? Join me Naomi Fowler and John Christensen for the Taxcast from the Tax Justice Network. We talk about how we take back control from the super rich and powerful, and make our economies work for all of us. You can find us on most podcast apps and your favourite radio station can broadcast us for free! Get more information on www.taxjustice.net/taxcast

In this special extended interview we ask - how much wealth is stashed offshore? We speak to Tax Justice Network senior advisor Jim Henry on why his estimate for the Tax Justice Network of $21 to 32 trillion has been vindicated by new figures released by the OECD: "it means we've discovered an eighth continent of wealth" Further reading here and here. You can hear a shorter version of this interview on the Taxcast #103 available here in which we also bring you Part 2 on systemic racism and tax.

This month we bring you part 2 on how tax justice can help address systemic racism in the US. Author Shawn Rochester, (The Black Tax: the cost of being Black in America) does some number crunching on the historic denial of equality and economic costs of exclusion, Gabriel Zucman speaks on reforming the private tax of healthcare, Cortney Sanders of the Center of Budget and Policy Priorities speaks about the impact of covid19 on communities of colour, and Brandon J. McKoy of New Jersey Policy Perspective speaks on the myth of millionaire tax flight. Plus: how much wealth is stashed offshore? We speak to Jim Henry on why our estimate of $21 to 32 trillion has been vindicated by new figures released by the OECD: "it means we've discovered an eighth continent of wealth" Transcript available here (not 100% accurate)

This month we look at the United States and how tax justice can help address systemic racism. Plus: did you know Britain's slave owners compensation loan was only settled by the government in 2015 on behalf of taxpayers? As Faulkner wrote: "The past is never dead. It's not even past." As we discuss, the legacy of centuries of institutionalised racism is that a wealth chasm has been created between black and white communities. We also know that the City of London in Britain itself built its wealth from slavery and empire. Still today major finance sectors have extractive business models, that impoverish some of the world's poorest nations. And financial secrecy is another form of empire. So how can we think about combining tax justice and reparations? Keval Bharadia's work on a super tax on the $8 trillion a day financial markets could help show the way. And financial institutions must have independent slavery money audits.

This month, we cover the story the mainstream media aren’t telling you – how governments around the world are undermining our tax collection services. We look at how the South Africa Revenue Service was established in very challenging times to become a world class institution. Yet also how quickly such achievements can be set back. Also, as all eyes turn to Central Banks during this coronavirus pandemic, we ask who are they serving? And how do people forge a new relationship and a new role for them that fits modern times?

This month: from the ashes of this coronavirus crisis how can we build a better economic and socially just system that works for all of us? The pandemic also exposes the pile-up of unaddressed crises which we must also fix. We discuss tax justice (which was always key), bailout conditions for companies now seeking government assistance, and Universal Basic Services.

How many more signs do we need to tell us we must urgently reform our economies, keep essential services out of private hands and transition away from fossil fuels? As the world buckles up for a different crisis tackling the Coronavirus, we look at how tax justice is key to all economic reform in the public interest, and solving the climate crisis - any crisis - is impossible without it. We speak to Dr Gail Bradbrook, co-founder of Extinction Rebellion on her vision of hope, and John Christensen of the Tax Justice Network.

In this special extended Taxcast, Naomi Fowler takes you on a whistle-stop guided tour on an express train around the world, looking at the worst offenders selling secrecy services. What can nations can do to protect themselves and their populations from the corruption that results from financial and legal secrecy? https://www.thetaxcast.com/the-financial-secrecy-index-who-are-the-worlds-worst-offenders-the-tax-justice-network-podcast-special-february-2020/ 

The Taxcast kicks off the new decade with: the French strikes - tax justice and pensions vs financialisation the EU countries who've missed the deadline on publishing registers of real corporate owners the effect of Brexit on poorer (plundered) countries And the IMF's stark warnings about the finance curse and another Great Depression

This month we ask - what's going on with our pre-school childcare and elderly care home services? We take a long hard look at the financialisation of our services and what we can do about it. Plus: the Conservative party in the UK has won a major victory in the general elections. With major challenges for tax justice, what are the next steps for trade deal negotiations? Will Britain become a fully fledged Singapore-on-Thames? Our website: www.thetaxcast.com 

This month we speak to Tax Justice Network CEO Alex Cobham on his new book The Uncounted on the politics of counting. Who's missing from the stats, from the bottom to the very top? And how can we count better? Plus: For decades corporate tax cuts have been touted as the way to promote the economy. This month the Tax Justice Network's John Christensen talks about a paradigm shift on corporate tax in the UK general election: and we look at the results of Trump's corporate tax cuts in the US - did they deliver what he promised?

In this month's episode we speak to Gabriel Zucman about his new book with co-author Emmanuel Saez - Triumph of Injustice: How the Rich Dodge Taxes and How to Make Them Pay. Plus, as Extinction Rebellion has held a fortnight of protests around the world over the climate emergency, we discuss the surprisingly small number of companies which determine whether investment will go into a better future, or onto a continued path of destruction. We discuss how tax justice and a different vision of growth can lead us back from the brink.

In this month's episode we discuss a new vision for Europe amid, or in spite of the Brexit vortex: plus - Britain's about to become the neighbour from hell, post-Brexit: how can the EU defend citizens from the race to the bottom on tax and regulations between nations precipitated by Britain's destructive 'Singapore-on-the-Thames' model? 

In this month's Taxcast: ethics and accountancy - yes they can go together! Plus: as Britain sinks into full crisis-mode over Brexit, we bring you unique analysis on some of the far-reaching consequences for the world, including threats to public health service models. And why does the new British government love Freeports so much?

Immigration as reparations: we speak with multiple award winning Suketu Mehta about his new book: This Land Is Our Land: An Immigrant’s Manifesto on the fastest way to fix global inequalities and injustices. Also, we discuss France’s 3% digital tax which has so angered the US president and yet another sign of the collapse of the supposed international consensus on tax rules and which countries have the power to dominate those agreements. And, we discuss the high tensions with Iran in the Strait of Hormuz and how expensive navies are potentially protecting privately owned ships busy minimising their tax bills using flags of convenience.

The Tax Justice Network now speaks tax justice in five languages on radio stations and podcast platforms across the world, each with their own unique content and style – English, Spanish, French, Arabic and now Portuguese. In this Taxcast special the podcast/radio producers come together to discuss their experiences of covering tax justice in their regions. Our website with all our podcasts: www.thetaxcast.com

This month we look at the new Corporate Tax Haven Index released by the Tax Justice Network. What does it tell us about the global economy and the international tax system? And how can we fix it? More information on the Corporate Tax Haven Index on https://cthi.taxjustice.net/en/

In this special extended edition of the May 2019 Taxcast we go to Preston in the North of England to see the Preston Model in action and how they're transforming their local economy and democratising wealth. Plus: dark money and the European elections - elite interests aligning with the far right. And we ask: why doesn't Britain have its own Huawei?

In this special extended edition of the April 2019 Taxcast, broadcast from the tax haven of Jersey: - we explore Jersey's poor showing in the OECD's Better Life Index and ask why Jersey's spending so much money on improving it's bad image instead of setting up public registers of beneficial ownership information - we interview the tax haven of Jersey's former Chief Advisor to the government, one of Jersey's main architects of, and defenders of its offshore business model - we hear about Jersey's dysfunctional political system from an elected representative of Jersey's only political party and its rising inequality levels - we speak to the fire-starters of the global tax justice movement - it all started in Jersey...

This month we discuss misleading reporting from the mainstream media on the financial crisis: it was overloaded with finance 'experts', fed misunderstandings on the financial crash, sold us the austerity narrative and omitted alternative solutions. Plus: two huge court case tax and social justice wins - firstly, an unprecedented case in Kenya by Tax Justice Network Africa against the tax haven of Mauritius. Secondly, a US court has ruled that international financial institutions like the IMF and the World Bank CAN be sued when their development projects hurt communities. And we're happy to report that the EU Commission WILL now investigate one of the cases exposed by the #LuxLeaks whistleblowers...

In the February 2019 Taxcast: why hasn't the European Commission investigated any of the secret tax deals that were exposed by the LuxLeaks whistleblowers where tax authorities gave multi-national companies outrageously low tax rates? Plus 'aid' for whom? We discuss the financialisation of aid.

Naomi Fowler talks to investor and author Jonathan Tepper who’s co-written a book called ‘The Myth of Capitalism: Monopolies and the death of capitalism’ and explore monopolies, the dangers to consumers and citizens, and the suppression of true innovation: are we in the last stage of capitalism? Plus the Tax Justice Network's John Christensen discusses Congress woman Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez's proposal for a 70% top marginal tax rate to be levied on incomes once they get to $10 million and above. And...we talk about Brexit, and how the European Union should handle the City of London's finance sector

In this month's podcast: time's running out to tackle climate crisis facing us all. We look at environmental taxes and making them fair. Plus we discuss the gilets jaunes in France, a movement that's been widely reported as anti-green taxes, but is in fact born from wider desperation for their 'let them eat cake' President Macron to reverse a series of policies that have worsened inequality in the country. We give Monsieur le President a lesson in how not to implement an environmental tax...

In this month's Taxcast: we look at how governments can better protect, encourage and even incentivise whistleblowers. Also: what do the latest Brexit developments tell us about dark money, the 'influence industry' and plutocracy? And, we hear from the UN's Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights Philip Alston on his findings from his UK visit.

In the October 2018 Taxcast: we speak to Nicholas Shaxson about his new book "The Finance Curse: How Global Finance Is Making Us All Poorer" released alongside new research from the Sheffield Political Economy Research Institute on the true costs of the City of London’s oversized finance sector to the British economy - £4.5 trillion in lost economic output over a 20 year period – that’s equivalent to £67,500 for every person in the UK, not far off $90,000. This research has serious implications for oversized financial centres everywhere. Also, we discuss the brutal murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the hypocrisy of the 'west' and corruption of democracy by dark money and national and international security threats not only from Russia, but also from China and, the most overlooked - the United States.

In the September 2018 Taxcast: we talk about 'Moneyland' and the transnational elite that have broken free of democratic control with journalist Oliver Bullough. Also, 10 years after the financial crash - how do we tackle the next one? Plus, we discuss the fifth aide of US President Trump to be convicted of, or admit criminal charges, and what it says about the spread of plutocracy.

In the August 2018 Taxcast: We ask why many Bermudians are leaving their beautiful island & why inequality levels have become so extreme despite it's huge offshore services centre. Plus we discuss the legal fight back against financial transparency gains, and we discuss tackling fake news from fake think tanks.

In the July 2918 Taxcast: a firewall to protect EU citizens from the Big Four accountancy firms and the tax avoidance lobby. Plus, we discuss UN Rapporteur on Poverty and Human Rights Professor Philip Alston’s announced visit to the UK to look at austerity and the human rights consequences: his report on the US was hard-hitting and controversial. What will he make of the UK? Also, we look at Transparify’s 2018 think tank funding transparency rankings and talk about how opacity is the name of the game for many of the ‘free market’ lobby groups pushing for Brexit, deregulation, privatisation and tax havenry, such as the Institute for Economic Affairs.

We’ve had leak after leak, whistleblower after whistleblower. But no matter what the scandal is, when it comes to financial secrecy and tax dodging, the so-called big four accountancy firms are key players. We interview investigative journalist Richard Brooks of the Private Eye on his new book: Bean Counters: the triumph of the accountants and how they broke capitalism. Plus: Will President Trump be prosecuted for foundation fraud? And can a leopard change its spots? How come the secrecy jurisdiction of Delaware came out in support of a financial transparency bill?

In this month's Taxcast: We discuss why we can’t afford the rich and challenge ideas about wealth, entrepreneurialism and investment. Also: ten years ago the Tax Justice Network was told it’d never happen, but this month British MPs voted to stop secret ownership of companies in British Overseas Territories. The Crown Dependencies got away for now. But the pressure is on them as a UK Foreign Affairs Committee report says corrupt assets of Kremlin-connected individuals pouring in to London is a threat to the UK’s national security. And while some of the money hidden in the Overseas Territories may flow to the United States, the EU may actually add it to their blacklist of non-cooperative jurisdictions…

In this month's Taxcast: Tax justice, women and UN human rights conventions: how we may be beginning to hold governments to account. Also: we discuss scandal-hit Facebook's checks on whether overseas influencers are funding political ads in the United States and why they won't work. And is it time for a new model? How Mark Zuckerberg could become a hero. Plus: Norway does the responsible thing and decides not to invest its sovereign wealth fund in private equity. And India’s decade-long battle to collect back taxes from Vodafone runs into potential conflicts of interest at the highest political levels.

In this month's Taxcast: They say history is written by the victors. So how can we rethink the way we use words about tax havens that reflect the reality of what's really happening? We talk to Alain Deneault about his new book in which he writes about laundering with language - Legalising Theft, a short guide to tax havens.  Plus: we discuss the poisoning of a former Russian spy and his daughter on British soil and how by welcoming oligarchs with no questions asked, the City of London has compromised democracy and ushered in an era of oppression, criminality and impunity. And also, how US President Trump's tax reforms have awarded tax write-offs for private jet owners.

In this month’s Taxcast: we look at the United States, Trump’s tax reforms and the killing of the American Dream. Plus: as we see yet another school shooting, should the powerful National Rifle Association continue to be a tax-exempt, non-profit organisation? And we discuss ongoing state-capture in Malta as the European Banking Authority investigates Pilatus bank, the subject of murdered journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia’s investigations. Can the Malta Financial Services Authority possibly be ‘fully equipped and free from conflicts of interest to perform its supervisory duties’?

In the January 2018 Taxcast we explore the results of the Tax Justice Network's Financial Secrecy Index just out, that tell the real story of global corruption. We look at the top ten worst global offenders, discuss the 4 key geographical political poles: the Far East, Europe, Britain plus its cluster of satellite tax havens, and the United States. And we discuss what countries can do independently and as regional blocs to defend themselves against the threats to their economies from offshore secrecy jurisdictions.

We speak with Jake Bernstein about his new book 'Secrecy World' - we ask what makes offshore players like Jurgen Mossack and Ramon Fonseca tick, and what do the Panama Papers and now the Paradise Papers tell us about Presidents Putin, Trump and the transnational oligarchy? Also we analyse Tax Haven USA's tax reforms set to turbo-charge inequality in a country with weak gun controls, the EU's disappointing tax haven blacklist and how the race to the bottom on tax between nations won't stop at 0%.

In the November 2017 Taxcast: we discuss the latest offshore scandal, the Paradise Papers with one of the journalists who got the scoop, Frederik Obermaier of Suddeutsche Zeitung. We interpret the enquiries to Jersey from offshore lawyers looking for a new tax haven for Apple which they'd rather had remained secret, look at the anti-democratic processes the Paradise Papers uncover and ask - what now for tax justice?

In this month’s Taxcast we look at the booming business of passports and residency for sale, and why it should worry us all. Also, even the IMF now advocates wealth taxes to combat inequality, yet governments around the world – most recently President Macron of France – are going in the opposite direction despite all the evidence that it’s a bad idea, we discuss how Russia and the US are now world leaders in inequality and the good news that the European Commission has ordered Luxembourg to claim back $293 million in taxes from Amazon in another ruling on illegal state aid.

In the September 2017 Taxcast we look at our over-reliance on unhelpful economic measures, like Gross Domestic Product and how it constrains us. Also: we discuss hurricanes, tax havens and disaster capitalism; and the bitcoin bubble - China may be closing its doors on it for the moment but tax havens like Switzerland are very interested…

In the August 2017 Taxcast: #10yearsafter the crash we ask - what will the next one look like? Can we avoid it? Also: Panama Papers fallout - another Prime Minister bites the dust, this time in Pakistan the offshore law firm Mossack Fonseca has closed 39 of its 45 offices around the world a UK court ruling spells the end for ‘employee benefit trusts’ being used by footballers to minimise their tax bills and the Bank Of England Governor has predicted Britain’s financial sector could double in size in the next 25 years. Has he not heard of the finance curse?

In this month’s July 2017 Taxcast: we explore Land Value Tax and the billions in revenue we’re missing out on. Plus: Tax Haven USA signs up to potential sanctions and blacklisting of the few nations still refusing to comply with international financial transparency rules, which would er, include itself as the world’s prime offender. Did Team USA read the small print? And will the G20, OECD and the EU really blacklist one of the world’s biggest economies? Also, at last, Members of the European Parliament vote for public country by country reporting for the world’s biggest companies – but a last minute amendment was tabled…

In the June 2017 Taxcast we ask - has the UK just had its first tax justice general election? Are we seeing a popular shift towards tax justice in the UK and in the US? Is this the beginning of the end to our long austerity winter? How much do people REALLY care about taxes, who pays them and who doesn’t?

In the May 2017 Taxcast: we talk to film director Michael Oswald about his new film The Spider’s Web: Britain’s Second Empire. Watch it here. Also, we discuss booming Sweden’s ‘reverse-Trumpism’: its economy grew almost twice as fast as the US last year – and it wasn’t achieved through cutting taxes. Plus: the Russian Parliament is considering sweeteners that would accelerate Crimea's progress further along the tax haven and secrecy jurisdiction route.

We look at the Panama Papers, one year on - we talk to the journalists who got the scoop. Plus: we discuss the raid on Credit Suisse, and new data exposing the profit shifting shennanigans of the EU's biggest banks.

We look at the high price we’re paying for our finance sectors – we look at staggering statistics showing how the US finance sector is a net drag on their economy. Also, as the British government initiates Brexit divorce negotiations to leave the EU, we discuss something they ought to know, but obviously don’t – they’re actually in a very weak position. Could it mean the beginning of the end of the finance curse gripping the UK economy? Read: The High Cost of High Finance here https://rooseveltinstitute.org/publications/overcharged-the-high-cost-of-high-finance/ City of London costs UK £4.5tn in lost economic growth https://www.taxjustice.net/press/press-release-city-of-london-costs-uk-4-5tn-in-lost-economic-growth/ Featuring: John Christensen and Alex Cobham of the Tax Justice Network, and Professor of Economics Gerald Epstein of the University of Masachusetts Amhurst. Produced and presented by Naomi Fowler for the Tax Justice Network.

In the February 2017 Taxcast: how financial transaction taxes can protect us from finance sectors dragging our economies down. Plus: the Swiss referendum - taxpayers have refused to pick up the tab for corporate tax 'reforms'. What does that mean for one of world's biggest tax haven players? Also, we discuss President Trump’s valentine gift for kleptocrats and the extractives industry as he repeals anti-corruption regulations - the criminal race to the bottom is on. And, the influence of dark money, the experts in distorting democratic debate and the results of the 2017 Transparify report.

In the January 2017 Taxcast we look at tax justice and public procurement - the efforts to hit tax dodging companies where it really hurts on a local level – trying to stop them bidding for public money for public contracts. Also: how massive amounts of money are flowing into Tax Haven USA to circumvent the flawed Common Reporting Standard - South Dakota is apparently raking in tax evading capital the slippery world of ‘residence planning’ and the ‘synthetic residency’ dodge we discuss the UK’s Criminal Finances Bill likely to be passed this year, which includes proposals for ‘Unexplained Wealth Orders’ and holding tax evading enablers to account. An amendment to the bill could force UK satellite tax havens, the overseas territories to create public registers of the real owners of companies, something they’ve so far refused to do. and we consider the British threat to the EU: ‘if you give us a bad Brexit deal, we’ll push regulation-lite, tax haven UK even further in a race to the bottom and shoot ourselves in the foot.’

In trusts we trust? We look at the new game in town: beneficial ownership avoidance, the booming industry in alternative escape vehicles from public registers and why we must shine the spotlight on all of them. Plus: we discuss two big stories we think will define 2017: the race to the bottom between nations on tax aka a transfer of wealth to the corporate community, and how the world's biggest havens are increasingly having to account for the devastating effect their tax and/or financial secrecy policies are having on human rights around the world...  

We look at Tax Inspectors Without Borders – a practical project that’s changing lives and aiming to level the global playground of tax minimising multinational companies. Plus: what does new US President Trump mean for tax justice? In Trusts we trust? The French Constitutional Court upholds a challenge to France’s trailblazing public register of Trusts: what does it mean for progress on financial transparency?

We look at the offshorisation of Iceland's economy, its collapse and recovery. Also, Brazil adds Ireland to its tax haven black list and Panama threatens anyone who dares call it a tax haven with a new law...plus more scandal and unique analysis you won't find anywhere else.  

How a conman can devastate the lives of thousands of ordinary people, aided and abetted by the offshore industry - with banks, law firms and accountants all happy to look the other way and not ask questions. Plus, we discuss the latest leak from the Bahamas, #BahamasLeaks, and Apple's 13 billion euro underpaid tax bill: a defining moment in the battle between the low/no-tax world big corporations would like to see and democratic, accountable governance in the public interest.

The Big Four accountancy firms: Are they in fact more like the Big One? And should they be broken up? Also: the Duke of Westminster's 9 billion tax free inheritance and how his family history forms the legal basis for the justification of tax avoidance around the world; how come the world's biggest banks are now officially endorsing transparency measures? And...so much for Panama cleaning up its act post-Panama Papers scandal: we discuss the demise of Panama's not-so-transparent Transparency Commission.        

'Hello. This is John Doe. Interested in data? I'm happy to share.' We talk to the two journalists who got the Panama Papers scoop, Bastian Obermayer and Frederik Obermaier who've written a book about their experience. Plus: what does Brexit mean for tax justice? We discuss the F4 (unholy) alliance between Switzerland, Hong Kong, Singapore and the UK, and the accelerated corporate tax race to the bottom.  

How different could the lives of those in poverty have been without secrecy jurisdictions? We give you the very latest estimates on the missing trillions offshored from the world's developing regions. Also: #Brexit and the special interests behind it: “Nakedly, brazenly, they're pushing the City of London's deregulated, criminal approach to finance”. Plus, the Panama Papers shed some light on secretive, pro-tax haven US lobbying group the Center for Freedom and Prosperity's funders.  

What is corruption? Well, that's a political question, and the answer depends on who you ask. We discuss the anti-corruption summit in the City of London, the world's capital of sleaze and ask if the sun ever set on the colonial era and the idea that corruption is a poor country issue. We explore extortive corruption versus collusive corruption and look at a new Poll which indicates for the first time the vast gulf between what the British people consider corrupt, and what has become a 'normal' way of doing business and politics. The overlap between the public and private spheres raises serious questions about democracy – and the nature of global fraud.  

We discuss the biggest offshore leak in history, the #PanamaPapers: could it provide an opportunity for nations to expand their secrecy market share? Once again, all eyes are on Trusts... Also, as the #LuxLeaks whistleblower Antoine Deltour's trial begins in Luxembourg, we ask why protections for whistleblowers are being eroded and what it says about the state of our democracy. An extended Taxcast this month presented and produced for the Tax Justice Network by @Naomi_Fowler You can read the Tax Justice Network daily blogs on www.taxjustice.net  

Is the US president really serious about tackling corruption in the finance sector? Are the presidential candidates? Now they can prove it. Bank Whistleblowers United tell us how they can restore the rule of law to Wall Street and avoid the next financial crisis in 60 days without any new legislation. Plus: why a wave of tax amnesties is likely to sweep across the world (how does 1% tax and immunity from prosecution sound?) and what the very first transparency data on banks exposes about how they do business.  

Which country is the second easiest in the world after Kenya to set up an anonymous shell company? We shine the spotlight on Tax haven USA and the lawyers secretly filmed by Global Witness advising a fake corrupt African government Minister. Also: we discuss Google's tiny tax payment in the UK, how politicians are interfering with the independence of our tax authorities, and the rise of the unnoticed tax haven of Taiwan. Plus more scandal and analysis.

What's Scotland got to do with the plunder of Moldova? We take a look at the 'Wild West' of Scottish Limited Partnerships. Also, we discuss the tensions in the EU; is the net finally closing on multinational companies, the tax minimisation deals they've been getting from various European countries and the big four accountancy firms who advised them? Just how bad was the sell off of one of Colombia's most profitable power generation companies? And what's former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair got to do with it? Also, we talk about the MEP who's dragging the European Commission through the courts to get access to papers they'd rather we didn't see. John Christensen will eat his hat if they DON'T reveal what MEP Fabio De Masi suspects they will: 'systematic political backup for a tax avoidance cartel that costs taxpayers in the EU hundreds of billions of dollars annually.'

We get some insights into the usually closed world of the wealth managers who serve the super-rich. Plus:on a par with Kissinger being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize? We discuss how the British Banker's Association's got one of their own into the UK government Treasury, why Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg's $35 billion 'charity' pledge isn't what it seems, and the anonymous survey of accountants that shows corruption is rife and the self-regulating profession can no longer be trusted.

Why is the City of London losing so much business to New York, Hong Kong and Singapore? Our conclusions are quite different from those of a British Bankers Association report on the subject. Plus: the crazy UK-China nuclear power station deal: a sweetener for closer ties between the two nation's financial sectors? One year after #LuxLeaks exposed some of the secret tax deals being done between government tax authorities and multinational corporations we ask how many more 'illegal state aid' deals might have been made? Plus we have a special focus on the results of the latest Financial Secrecy Index 2015 released this month: we look at the top ten worst offenders and ask what can be done about them.

We look at the remittance cartel, their 'taxing of the poor' with monopoly prices in a juicy $450-500 billion market. Also: 'comfort letters' and the game changing European Commission ruling that the tax agreements between Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Starbucks and Fiat constitute illegal state aid, we analyse the rich country club of the OECD's BEPS proposals for reform of the global corporate tax system: will it really address corporate tax avoidance and evasion?

When's the next financial crisis? We look at offshore and the trillion dollar derivatives market. Plus: we discuss how Mexico's trying to force multinational companies to pay more tax, why recent market madness originating in China shows we need a Financial Transactions Tax more than ever, and why the recent election by a landslide of opposition leader in Britain's Labour party Jeremy Corbyn could be a game-changer.

Sun, sea and tax: the Taxcast goes to Mexico and looks at how multinational tourism operates there. Plus: why Luxembourg is printing euros like there's no tomorrow, Brazil offers its tax dodgers an amnesty, and we ask how much longer 'emerging economies' and other countries left out of the reform of global tax rules will put up with it.

In an extended Taxcast special we look at the crisis in Greece and ask whatever happened to European unity? Plus we discuss the European Parliament's vote to make multinational coporations report their activities on a public, country-by-country basis, a push to give poorer countries a say in global tax rule-making fails after three days of bullying in Addis Ababa, BUT Tax Inspectors Without Borders gets the green light. Plus more scandal and unique analysis.

Racketeering, money laundering and bribery in international football: the FIFA scandal demonstrates everything that's wrong with global finance and attitudes to business. Also: the EU Commission releases a laughable tax haven blacklist with some glaring omissions, we put FIFA's auditors KPMG under the spotlight, and Walmart is exposed for paying minimal taxes.

In the May 2015 Taxcast: Do our politicians believe in the societies they serve or not? The Taxcast looks at making the tax returns of our elected representatives public, and the inspirational achievement of journalist Umar Cheema of the Centre for Investigative Reporting in making Pakistan only the fourth country in the world to publish the tax returns of its Parliamentarians. Also: how the British general election demonstrates political capture by financial interests; libertarian paradise - the world's newest tax haven; and is Singapore trying to shut down reporting on its tax haven status?

How just are our tax systems towards women? One Texan husband did the sums on what his stay-at-home wife's unpaid work was really worth in monetary terms. Plus: one of the USA's biggest corporations (and tax avoiders) is repatriating billions from offshore and re-focusing on good old manufacturing again, and remember how the UK Prime Minister was 'leading the world' in transparency measures not so long ago? We discuss a letter a former Cayman Islands lobbyist and Conservative peer wrote to reassure the tax haven that it was an empty gesture to distract from the proposed Financial Transaction Tax.

Democracy for sale: how our politics are heavily reliant on tax haven-friendly donors. Also, we ask: Why is HSBC shutting down offshore accounts in Jersey? Are we in the final few years of the corporate income tax? Is Australia's exempting of big companies from new transparency rules a joke? Plus more scandal and analysis you won't find anywhere else.

Just what does a bank have to do to lose its licence?! We look at the fall out from HSBCLeaks and ask how can we genuinely tackle criminality in global finance? Also: the latest research on crimes and fines in banking; why a recent threat to have UK Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories blacklisted won't exactly have them shaking in their shoes; plus more scandal and unique analysis.

How offshore is ruining the 'Beautiful Game' - the Taxcast scrutinises football's own goal. Also: how banks with criminal convictions are being allowed to continue to handle our money, how people may be allowed to apply for anonymity in the UK's register of beneficial owners to be introduced in 2016, and the meeting of the world's most powerful in that bastion of transparency, Davos, Switzerland. Plus more scandal and unique analysis.

In the December 2014 Taxcast: how mafia is corrupting democracy at the heart of Europe in Italy's capital city of Rome. Also, the #LuxLeaks whistleblower is arrested and makes his first public statements on why he did it, the UK Chancellor's 'Google Tax', is the EU Commission President backing away from making a register of the real owners of copmpanies and trusts public? Plus more scandal and unique analysis.

In the November 2014 Taxcast: 'You can lie and you can steal from us but this time we'll know who you are': Ukraine becomes the first country in the world to introduce a public registry of the real owners of companies. The Taxcast speaks to the Director of Ukraine's Anti-Corruption Action Centre about stopping corruption that continues to cost lives. Also: we take a look at the fallout from the latest leaks from the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists on corporate tax avoidance in Luxembourg, or #LuxLeaks, Kenya considers ending corporate tax holidays, and why is the taxpayer funded European Investment Bank lending money to companies that are heavy users of tax havens? All that and more scandal.

How much is corporate welfare costing us? Across the US they're going to start publishing the subsidies and tax breaks. We take a look at the latest research in the UK. Also: Ireland announces it'll abolish the 'Double Irish' tax dodge after the EU Commission finds Apple's tax deal is 'illegal state aid'. But what will they replace it with? Australians discover the true state of the tax contributions made by their top companies, and Tax Justice Network Africa makes history taking the Kenyan government to court in an unprecedented case over a tax deal with the tax haven of Mauritius.

In the September 2014 Taxcast: 'unpatriotic corporate deserters'? We ask why so many US companies are relocating. Also, the less reported side of the Scottish vote on independence, the OECD's latest 'action' plan on tackling international tax avoidance and much, much more.

In the August 2014 Taxcast: when was the last time you used a £100 bill, a 500 euro note or a 1,000 Swiss Franc note? We look at how Western Central banks and Treasuries are facilitating crime through high denomination bills. Also, tax haven reputation damage-management, Switzerland pulls a fast one on India, the European bankers raking in the bonuskis from sanctions against Russia and how the tax haven of Mauritius is...erm...expanding its portfolio. "I think it's terrible public policy to facilitate organised crime" Jim Henry Produced by @Naomi_Fowler for the Tax Justice Network and also featuring John Christensen of the Tax Justice Network, author of Laundry Men and many other books on financial crime Jeffrey Robinson, Assistant US Attorney General Lanny Breuer, Economist and asset recovery specialist Jim Henry.

What really happened at the Google Shareholder meeting vote on a proposal for ethical tax principles? Plus: we discuss what the new tax haven-friendly EU Commission President might now do (or not do), anti-democratic moves in Hong Kong by the big four accountancy firms, and: forget the OECD's global tax reforms - developing countries can, and are doing it for themselves. But will the new BRICS Development Bank do any better? And much more...

In the June 2014 Taxcast: the guillotine vs progressive taxation. the Taxcast looks at Thomas Piketty's book Capital in the 21st Century. Also: welcome to the temporary tax haven of World Cup Brazil; the EU Commission begins investigations into illegal state aid for tax havens; and are developing countries really not interested in tracking illicit outflows from their countries? Plus more scandals

In the May 2014 Taxcast: the Taxcast looks at privatisation and tax: what happens when public assets or services get into private hands? Also, Google's challenged on its tax affairs by its own shareholders; will Congress block the US government's decision to agree to the G20's global transparency standard? And whatever happened to the UK's 'leadership' on public registers of the real owners of companies now it turns out it'll 'encourage' but not 'force' its overseas territories and crown dependencies to sign up to the initiative?

In the April 2014 Taxcast: Forget Congress! The Taxcast looks at the latest US state to take matters into its own hands and legislate against tax havens. Also: the scandal of how the Bank for International Settlements has kept offshore wealth data to itself, the British government tries to impress its friends in Washington with a 'tough' new tax evasion offence, taxing problems in Nigeria and...how will UK Parliamentarian Lord Blencathra manage now his £12,000 (c. $20,000) a month contract with the Cayman Islands has been terminated?

In the March 2014 Taxcast: Russia, Ukraine, Londongrad and the offshore threat to global security. Also: modern day colonialism? Niger battles France over fairer revenues from its uranium; it's official - inequality IS bad for economic growth: the IMF becomes an unlikely advocate for tax justice. And, the European Parliament moves against anonymous ownership of companies by voting for public registers of beneficial owners.

In the February 2014 Taxcast: Are European tax havens getting 'illegal state subsidies'? The European Union's Competition Commissioner thinks so. Are the world's tax havens really going to become more transparent? We analyse the OECD's automatic information exchange proposal, warts and all. And, the tax haven of the Bahamas is broke – the government's solution? Tax the poor! We look at the Bahamian campaign against a Value Added Tax and their demands for a freedom of information act.

In the January 2014 Taxcast: Tax justice goes to the Cayman Islands; we look at the latest fall-out from #OffshoreLeaks, the expose on tax havens from the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists; and HOW much is Africa spending on corporate tax breaks??? The Taxcast looks at tax incentives, Africa-style.

In the December 2013 Taxcast: the clock's ticking for Swiss banks, OECD countries are failing to collect enough information on the real owners of companies, and the Taxcast looks at tax and human rights: lawyers have escaped pulic scrutiny for their role in tax abuse. So far...

In the November 2013 Taxcast: the movers and the shakers in the 2013 Financial Secrecy Index, the pariah states trying to wreck new global transparency measures, and 50 years ago this month US President John F Kennedy was assassinated. Did you know he was trying to tackle tax havens?

In the October 2013 Taxcast: Swiss villagers send some of profit shifting mining giant GlencoreXstrata's money to humanitarian projects, tax havens do some window dressing and HOW many sets of accounts does a multinational corporation really need to file their tax returns? The David and Goliath story of tax collection - even for the United States.

In the September 2013 Taxcast: The Netherlands is getting worried about it's bad reputation - and not because of it's red light district, China steps aboard the G20 automatic information exchange train and what do Tina Turner and Muammar Gaddafi have in common? The Taxcast breaks down the dance moves for the Swiss Shuffle.

In the August 2013 Taxcast: we look at why development money is being invested in developing countries via tax havens and the under-reported elements of the tensions between Spain and Britain over the territory of Gibraltar. Also: tax and the environment - making the polluter pay instead of paying the polluter: the Taxcast investigates the Carbon Tax in British Columbia, Canada

In the July 2013 Taxcast: We analyse the OECD's Action Plan it says is going to tackle corporate tax cheating. And who needs the OECD, the G20 or the G8 anyway? The Taxcast looks at alternative working models governments could implement NOW without any more summits: Japan introduced its Tax Haven Counter Measure Law in the 1970s and Mexico has a tax haven black list and the Dictamen Fiscal rule to help it hold multinational corporations to account.

'Coulds' and 'shoulds' but any real action? We analyse what the G8 summit did for tax justice and why some tax havens may get a competitive advantage. And while the world waits for reform the Taxcast looks at how some countries are finding creative ways around the current global tax system.

In May's 2013 Taxcast: Google and Apple are forced to defend their tax affairs in public, how anti-EU sentiment serves offshore interests and the Taxcast looks at tax havens and the arms trade: how secrecy kills. The Lord of War makes an appearance...

In April 2013's Taxcast: offshore leaks blows the lid off secrecy for sale, the G20 endorse greater transparency (but let's not get too excited) Luxembourge agrees to lift its banking secrecy, Austria next? And the Taxcast takes a look at fake foreign direct investment.

In March 2013's Taxcast: the crisis in Cyprus and the risk tax havens pose to the global economy, a surprise earthquake for UK-affiliated tax havens and a frustrated corporate tax inspector speaks out on the corrupting of the tax system.

In February 2013's Taxcast: Transparency for French banks, taxing the digital economy aka how to worry Google and Amazon, G8 leaders talk up reform of the global tax system - but will they walk the talk? And...is it a bird? Is it a plane? No! It's the OECD! The Taxcast takes a closer look.

In January 2013's Taxcast: a significant ruling against Dell in Spain, India delays rules that would have tackled corporate tax abuse until 2016, the EU threatens to blacklist Switzerland AND we take a look at 'Google Capitalism' (An extended edition to kick off 2013 of just under 20 mins)

In the December 2012 Taxcast: Are banks too big to prosecute? Thanks but no thanks to Starbucks cynical offer to pay some corporation tax after all and we discuss a new system rating corporate tax responsibility for consumers that will be out in 2013. And - how we can reform our tax system to stop abuse.

In the November 2012 Taxcast: is it the beginning of the end of tax avoidance by multi-national corporations? Some countries fight back. And the Finance Curse - why an oversized finance sector's bad for an economy. A special extended edition.

In the October 2012 Taxcast: Helsinki declares itself a tax haven-free zone, Starbucks joins the tax avoidance Roll of Dishonour and we follow the money: asset recovery, dictators and the selling of secrecy.

In the September 2012 Taxcast: A whistleblower reward threatens Swiss banking secrecy - where will the money go next? Bangladesh considers expanding a regressive VAT tax and Professor Prem Sikka on the neglected role of the Big Four accountancy firms aka the 'pin-stripe mafia.'

In the August 2012 Taxcast: capital flight in Africa AND now in Europe, Olympian Usain Bolt fails to champion his tax affairs, and the Spirit Level writers Kate Pickett and Richard Wilkinson on tax and inequality. There's even an extra minute this month!

In the July 2012 Taxcast: Why there are no prosecutions at HSBC bank, a tax justice victory in Norway, new research reveals the amount of offshore wealth is higher than anybody thought. And we look at the temporary tax haven of the London Olympics.

In the June 2012 Taxcast: celebrity tax avoidance, Greece's missing billions, what should have been on the G20 agenda and trade mispricing - the tricks of the trade.

In the May 2012 Taxcast: Tax haven insiders speak out, the co-founder of Facebook unfriends the US, and Europe considers a Financial Transaction Tax.

In the April 2012 Taxcast: Amazon's tax affairs, the global tax cut race to the  bottom, India tackles tax havens and the miners in Zambia who pay more tax than the multi-national mining company.

In the March 2012 Taxcast: Apple i-tax dodging, reclaiming Arab Spring country assets, the rich country club of the OECD and the ABCs of setting up letterbox companies. It's child's play!

In the February 2012 Taxcast: Are City of London Police really serious about prosecuting financial crimes? Are bankers paying fair taxes on their bonuses? And how Facebook is saving billions in tax via Ireland and Bermuda. Special focus this month: the tax haven of the City of London, semi-autonmous state within a state.

In our inaugural Tax Justice Network monthly podcast we discuss the implications of the Vodafone vs India landmark tax case, compare Bill Gates and Mitt Romney's attitudes to taxation and visit the Occupy camp outside St Paul's Cathedral in London.