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 G ..read more

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 t ..read more

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 ridicul ..read more

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-t ..read more

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/  ..read more

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 w ..read more

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 ..read more

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 ..read more

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 mo ..read more

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 mo ..read more