The Taxcast By The Tax Justice Network

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 direc

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_22-1.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 cha

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:

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

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-ina

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

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 s

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.

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/submissio

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

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