Tax Reform Roundup

Governments around the world are grappling with the question of how to tax the income from intellectual property. This column asks whether offering tax breaks – called Patent Boxes after the box companies must tick on their tax forms – will lead to a race to the bottom across Europe and who, if anyone, benefits.

Full Article: Patent Boxes: An innovative way to race to the bottom?

ECOSOC: the world needs an intergovernmental commission on tax cooperation

TJN advocates for international cooperation to protect nations from abusive tax practices, including evasion and the race to the bottom in corporate taxation. This can only be achieved through a legitimate global organisation with recognised political status. No such organisation currently exists. The OECD is the pretender to this position, but lacks legitimacy and too many of its prominent members are tax havens/secrecy jurisdictions. We therefore advocate for the United Nations to strengthen its role in this area by creating an Intergovernmental Commission on International Cooperation on Tax Matters (the political body) supported by an advisory Committee of Experts along the lines of the existing Committee (though far, far better resourced).

Choose life: choose to pay tax

Art Uncut have an article in the Guardian this morning on their objectives. They say:

Art Uncut aims to bring about a culture shift, to create a world where people automatically and instinctively think about tax ethically.

First, we want to empower people to “Just Say No!” to the tax accountant.

Reflections on Greece – 5 – you can’t run a government without taxes

I’ve been reflecting on the situation in Greece and have pointed out that much of what is happening is the inevitable consequence of neoliberal thinking.

So too is the fact that Greece suffers endemic tax evasion. It is thought that 30% of revenues are lost to evasion in Greece, with the rich being especially prone to non-payment.