Privatising profits and socialising losses
NSW Finance Minister Dominic Perrottet owes it all to his mother
His father works for the World Bank in Washington.
The Australian Financial Review
NSW budget 2018: No changes for NSW home buyers, property ...
◾ Faster trains, new motorways and $150 for new mums (news.com.au)
◾ Short-term sugar hits lead to long-term decay (LocalGovernmentNSW)
NSW is rich on paper but people struggle to keep up
It's the powerhouse of the Australian economy but, with weak wage growth and the soaring price of basic utilities, that power isn't filtering down to the masses. (ABC)
Perrottet plans for the future: a budget with a 'strong heart'
The final budget before the election has turned the focus away from building big infrastructure to people, with money for everyone. (SMH)
◾ Faster trains, new motorways and $150 for new mums (news.com.au)
◾ Short-term sugar hits lead to long-term decay (LocalGovernmentNSW)
NSW is rich on paper but people struggle to keep up
It's the powerhouse of the Australian economy but, with weak wage growth and the soaring price of basic utilities, that power isn't filtering down to the masses. (ABC)
Perrottet plans for the future: a budget with a 'strong heart'
The final budget before the election has turned the focus away from building big infrastructure to people, with money for everyone. (SMH)
Allison Christians (McGill), Christians: Introduction to Tax Policy Theory:
Taxation
involves the compulsory transfer of resources among members of society.
Tax policy is concerned with how societies carry out taxation. That is a
technical and legal question, but it is inescapably a political,
social, and cultural one as well. To study tax policy is to engage
simultaneously with the existential philosophical foundations of
taxation: why and how societies tax. This introduction to tax policy
theory presents an overview of tax policy discourse. The goal is to
outline a working framework for reflection and analysis to examine the
ways in which current assumptions and approaches require further
development.
How the Koch Brothers Are Killing Public Transit Projects Around the Country
New York Times
Tax Justice Sunday - Tax Research ...
Law.com, The Problem with Law Schools? They Only Prepare Future Lawyers
The last couple of weeks have seen Tax Court cases with several interesting lessons. The one I choose today is Roger G. Maki and Lilane J. Gervais v. Commissioner, T.C. Summary Op. 2018-30 (June 6, 2018). It teaches a lesson about what constitutes travel “away from home” for purposes of the §162 deduction. I posted a basic lesson (here) on this issue late last year. The wrinkle in today’s case is that the taxpayer was retired and traveled from his home in the Seattle metro area to a house he had inherited, ostensibly to manage the surrounding land for eventual timber sales. The Tax Court decided the travel was deductible. I question whether that’s the right outcome here — it seems to me this was just a commute — but notice this is just a Summary Opinion. That means it can still teach a lesson, even if it carries no precedential weight.
New York Times op-ed: Tax Cuts and Leprechauns (Wonkish), by Paul Krugman:
Establishment of the Network of Tax Organizations – NTO CIAT
The NTO is a network of regional and international organizations of revenue administrations created to provide a forum for cooperation and coordination between member organizations to strengthen tax administrations through peer learning and the sharing of experiences as well as through the provision of services, products and information.
Dubai Leaks: Confidential property records suggest Emirate is world’s ‘Costa del Crime’ Finance Uncovered & OCCRP
Fake Direct Investment – How tax havens turn economic statistics into nonsense Quartz
European Commissioner for Justice Calls for More Press Freedom in EU, Less Graft in Malta OCCRP
Swiss authorities propose major money-laundering law reforms ICIJ
UK government endorses strong anti-corruption rules for oil and mining firms Global Witness
Former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis: Ireland a tax haven ‘free-riding’ on Europe The Irish Times
Israel Seeks ‘Uniform’ Law to Fight Money Laundering, Tax Evasion Bloomberg BNA
Glencore Tests U.S. Sanctions Resolve With Gertler Payments Bloomberg
See also: Glencore must not pay millions to sanctioned individual Global Witness
Danske Bank urged to speed up reforms as public confidence drops Reuters
‘Major flaws in Danske Bank’s money laundering controls in Estonia made it possible foits branch there to be used for criminal activity’
FIFA Fallout As Hundred Football Officials Filmed Taking Gifts OCCRP
Three ex-presidents of Peru in Odebrecht payoffs probe Business Standard
Ronaldo to settle tax evasion case in Spain economia
‘Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo has reportedly agreed to pay between €18m and €20m (£17.6m) in a tax evasion settlement with the Spanish authorities’
It’s Billionaires at the Gate as Ultra-Rich Muscle In on Private Equity Bloomberg
‘In an era of hyper-affluence, JPMorgan and Credit Suisse cater to a super-exclusive class.’
The trouble with charitable billionaires The Guardian
‘ …inequality is growing, and both corporations and the wealthy find ways to avoid the taxes that the rest of us pay. In the name of generosity, we find a new form of corporate rule, refashioning another dimension of human endeavour in its own interests.’
New York Times
Tax Justice Sunday - Tax Research ...
Last Sunday has been named as Tax Justice Sunday by Church Action for Tax
ANDREW LEIGH. Rising to the challenge of inequality.
Thomas Piketty and his colleagues have used new data to track inequality and sharpen the choices we face. … Continue reading
New York Times op-ed: Why the I.R.S. Should Go After Trump. by Philip Hackney (LSU; moving to Pittsburgh):
The
New York State attorney general yesterday filed a lawsuit against the
Donald J. Trump Foundation and its directors, accusing the charity and
the Trump family of violating campaign finance laws, self-dealing and
illegal coordination with the presidential campaign. It asks that Mr.
Trump pay restitution and be prohibited from leading a nonprofit in New
York for 10 years.
*Jack Townsend: Updates on Forfeiture Civil Penalty in Bullshit Tax Shelter Cases
Outstanding Presentation on Collection of Title 31 International Penalties (Including FBAR)
Law.com, The Problem with Law Schools? They Only Prepare Future Lawyers
The last couple of weeks have seen Tax Court cases with several interesting lessons. The one I choose today is Roger G. Maki and Lilane J. Gervais v. Commissioner, T.C. Summary Op. 2018-30 (June 6, 2018). It teaches a lesson about what constitutes travel “away from home” for purposes of the §162 deduction. I posted a basic lesson (here) on this issue late last year. The wrinkle in today’s case is that the taxpayer was retired and traveled from his home in the Seattle metro area to a house he had inherited, ostensibly to manage the surrounding land for eventual timber sales. The Tax Court decided the travel was deductible. I question whether that’s the right outcome here — it seems to me this was just a commute — but notice this is just a Summary Opinion. That means it can still teach a lesson, even if it carries no precedential weight.
New York Times op-ed: Tax Cuts and Leprechauns (Wonkish), by Paul Krugman:
The
political news seems even more horrible than usual today. So to get
away from the headlines a bit, I’m going to commit some economics.
Specifically, I want to pull together some thoughts — some inspired by
Gabriel Zucman’s recent work [Tax Havens Blunt Impact Of Corporate Tax Cuts],
some of my own — about the case or lack thereof for corporate tax cuts,
the centerpiece of the only major legislation enacted under Trump. ...
There
is no question that multinational corporations like low-tax countries
like Ireland, and report earning a lot of their profits in those
countries. But does this really reflect large-scale capital movements to
those low-tax jurisdictions?
No, say *Gabriel Zucman and co-authors.
They produce strong evidence that most of what we see is basically a
statistical illusion: corporations use transfer pricing, allocation of
rents on intangible assets, etc. to make profits appear in low-tax
countries; but there’s very little real production or employment behind
those profits. As Figure 3 shows, tax-haven countries end up showing
ridiculously high levels of profits relative to wages, basically because
the profits aren’t being earned where they’re being reported.
Establishment of the Network of Tax Organizations – NTO CIAT
The NTO is a network of regional and international organizations of revenue administrations created to provide a forum for cooperation and coordination between member organizations to strengthen tax administrations through peer learning and the sharing of experiences as well as through the provision of services, products and information.
Dubai Leaks: Confidential property records suggest Emirate is world’s ‘Costa del Crime’ Finance Uncovered & OCCRP
Fake Direct Investment – How tax havens turn economic statistics into nonsense Quartz
European Commissioner for Justice Calls for More Press Freedom in EU, Less Graft in Malta OCCRP
Swiss authorities propose major money-laundering law reforms ICIJ
UK government endorses strong anti-corruption rules for oil and mining firms Global Witness
Former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis: Ireland a tax haven ‘free-riding’ on Europe The Irish Times
Israel Seeks ‘Uniform’ Law to Fight Money Laundering, Tax Evasion Bloomberg BNA
Glencore Tests U.S. Sanctions Resolve With Gertler Payments Bloomberg
See also: Glencore must not pay millions to sanctioned individual Global Witness
‘Major flaws in Danske Bank’s money laundering controls in Estonia made it possible foits branch there to be used for criminal activity’
FIFA Fallout As Hundred Football Officials Filmed Taking Gifts OCCRP
Three ex-presidents of Peru in Odebrecht payoffs probe Business Standard
Ronaldo to settle tax evasion case in Spain economia
‘Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo has reportedly agreed to pay between €18m and €20m (£17.6m) in a tax evasion settlement with the Spanish authorities’
It’s Billionaires at the Gate as Ultra-Rich Muscle In on Private Equity Bloomberg
‘In an era of hyper-affluence, JPMorgan and Credit Suisse cater to a super-exclusive class.’
The trouble with charitable billionaires The Guardian
‘ …inequality is growing, and both corporations and the wealthy find ways to avoid the taxes that the rest of us pay. In the name of generosity, we find a new form of corporate rule, refashioning another dimension of human endeavour in its own interests.’
Why It Matters If Fracking Companies Are Overestimating Their ‘Proved’ Oil and Gas Reserves
Comprehensive analysis of why it matters that fracking companies are
overestimating their ‘proved’ oil and gas reserves– as allowed under an
SEC rule change.
Missing in Action: The Poor in America
How much of the reality of being poor remains hidden, often by design.
