Welcome to our rolling blog Countries at the UN are currently negotiating the parameters of a UN framework convention on tax, which could deliver the biggest shake-up in history to the global tax system. The final parameters – aka the “terms of reference” – will be published in draft form in August, and voted on by the full General Assembly, likely in November. We’ll be sharing rolling updates on this blog here over the coming months in the run-up to the UN vote on the terms of reference. Why this matters ▼ Why this matters Countries voted by a landslide majority last year to begin negotiat ..read more

In the next six months, United Nations member states will have to decide on the terms of reference for a UN framework convention on international tax cooperation (UNFCITC). This means that they will have to set the roadmap for negotiating the most important international tax instrument ever drafted. This is a once-in-a-century opportunity to redefine the pillars of the international tax system and to make it fully inclusive, just and effective. The mandate for this task was given by the UN General Assembly to an Ad Hoc Intergovernmental Committee through the adoption of Resolution 78/230 in De ..read more

After decades of slow but steady transparency progress (eg automatic exchange of banking information, beneficial ownership transparency, country by country reporting), secrecy promoters have found a strategy to turn back the clock on hard-fought transparency advances. They are weaponising the rights to privacy and data protection to prevent access to information by the public as well as by competent authorities. This blog post looks at the implementation of the strategy against beneficial ownership transparency. It introduces our latest report dismantling these privacy-washing arguments. We ne ..read more

Ireland has once again found itself in the crosshairs of a United Nations human rights body due to its ongoing facilitation of international tax abuse. Following concerns raised just last year by the Committee on the Rights of the Child, another UN body – the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights – has also weighed in, demanding that Ireland account for the human rights impacts of its tax haven policies. The Committee, which reviewed Ireland at its 75th session last month, focused six separate recommendations on the country’s nefarious fiscal regime, calling for measures to address ..read more

The theme for International Women’s Day 2024 is “Inspire Inclusion”, focusing on understanding, valuing women’s inclusion, belonging, relevance, and empowerment. As a young law student, veritable decades ago, my least favourite subject was tax law. It was binary and dreary and abstract; mathematical and clinical and soulless. It’s rather ironic, then, that I ended up spending the best part of 3 decades working in the tax space, much of that focusing on compliance and abusive tax practices, and getting taxpayers to do the right thing. I was wrong: tax is fun!    Alongside this, w ..read more

After consulting with civil society organisations and other stakeholders, the IMF published late last year its new strategy focusing on anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism  (AML/CFT). This will underpin its engagement with countries across all of the IMF’s functions: surveillance, financial sector assessment programs, lending and capacity development. The publication of the new strategy was accompanied by five analytical papers that provided a deep dive into issues such as illicit financial flows and financial stability, along with the launch of an IMF website o ..read more

Last month, as the ultrarich gathered in Davos, Switzerland, Oxfam released its annual report on global inequality: these are boom times for billionaires while much of the world is being left behind. Collectively, billionaires have grown $3.3 trillion richer since 2020. The five richest men have seen their fortunes more than double. At this rate, we expect to see the first trillionaire within a decade. Unfortunately, for most of the world, the picture looks very different. Following a pandemic that devastated lives and livelihoods, as well as a prolonged cost-of-living crisis, climat ..read more

We’re happy to announce the launch of a brand new website for our growing family of Tax Justice Network podcasts. As you’ll see, it’s bright, it’s colourful, and you’ll find it much easier to navigate. All podcasts are also available on most podcast apps. We currently have five monthly podcasts and one new weekly podcast, all independent productions with their own hosts and producers bringing tax justice and financial transparency debate to their region. We’re planning more… As mentioned, they’re all available on most podcast apps. Here they are: The Taxcast: (in English) Launched in 2012, th ..read more

Welcome to the latest episode of the Tax Justice Network’s monthly podcast, the Taxcast. You can subscribe either by emailing naomi [at] taxjustice.net or find us on your podcast app. All our podcasts are unique productions in five languages: English, Spanish, Arabic, French, Portuguese. You may have noticed we’ve rebranded all our podcasts, the new podcast website is here. 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: st ..read more

One of the first questions I was asked when I joined the Tax Justice Network was “how did a former schoolteacher come to be involved in the tax justice movement, and why?” If you’re an educator reading this blog, there’s a decent chance you might be asking yourself “what even is tax justice?” I was born and raised in Brazil. At the age of 18 I became a history teacher at a public school in the countryside, as part of an internship program my university had with the local schools. My first students were around fourteen or fifteen years old (not much younger than me). My plan had been to stay w ..read more