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Wednesday, June 20, 2018

World Bank Champagne: Establishment of the Network of Tax Organizations – NTO

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)

 


Landmark research finds profit-shifting is driving global reduction in headline tax rates, not competition
... Overall, the study estimates more than $600bn in profits were shifted to low tax jurisdictions in 2015, with US multinationals being the main “shifters.”
Gabriel Zucman: Multinationals move $16bn from Australia to tax havens each year

THE MISSING PROFITS OF NATIONS
Thomas R. Tørsløv
Ludvig S. Wier
*Gabriel Zucman
http://papers.nber.org/tmp/84363-w24701.pdf

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 ...


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

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.’

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.