"[Mr Cranston] was trying to make sure the tax office didn't get this type of publicity, where it was seen to have misused its powers."
Barrister David Staehli, SC, revealed
A deputy commissioner of the Australian Taxation Office allegedly shared confidential information with his son in circumstances where he had a clear conflict of interest, a Sydney jury has heard. Michael Bede Cranston, 59, is on trial in the NSW District Court after pleading not guilty to using information he obtained as a deputy commissioner, and exercising influence in the capacity of his role, with the intention of dishonestly obtaining a benefit for his son.
Ex-deputy ATO commissioner on trial in NSW
Former ATO boss abused his power to help son, court hears
Former ATO boss abused his power to help son, court hears
Faith & Governance
Rebecca Morrow (Wake Forest), Noncompetes as Tax Evasion, 96 Wash. U. L. Rev. 265 (2018):
Al Capone famously boasted of his criminal empire: “Some call it bootlegging. Some call it racketeering. I call it a business.” Treasury Agent Frank Wilson and Prosecutor George Johnson put Capone behind bars not by disputing his characterization and pursuing murder or assault or RICO charges, but by accepting it and enforcing its tax implications. Irrespective of their legality, Capone’s businesses were profitable, and Capone had not reported their profits for tax purposes. A simple application of bedrock tax law achieved what other legal routes failed to achieve and sent Capone to Alcatraz. The trick was to see the tax argument.
AFP complained NSW cop potentially dealing drugs at Canberra nightclub
The NSW Police officer has since resigned after being accused by the police watchdog of giving false evidence in an ACT court.
‘Hate the sin, find the sinner’
This week the Tax Justice Network published a report – Beneficial ownership verification: ensuring the truthfulness and accuracy of registered ownership information – that tackles financial crime at its root: anonymity manufactured via layers of opaque legal vehicles, such as companies and trusts. While many countries, especially in the European Union, have made great advances in requiring companies and other legal vehicles to register their ‘beneficial owners’ (the individuals who ultimately control and benefit from legal vehicles), verification of this information continues to be a great challenge. What’s the point of requiring a company to identify and declare its beneficial owners if it cannot be prevented from lying to our faces?
This week the Tax Justice Network published a report – Beneficial ownership verification: ensuring the truthfulness and accuracy of registered ownership information – that tackles financial crime at its root: anonymity manufactured via layers of opaque legal vehicles, such as companies and trusts. While many countries, especially in the European Union, have made great advances in requiring companies and other legal vehicles to register their ‘beneficial owners’ (the individuals who ultimately control and benefit from legal vehicles), verification of this information continues to be a great challenge. What’s the point of requiring a company to identify and declare its beneficial owners if it cannot be prevented from lying to our faces?
A public servant suspected of leaking embarrassing documents about Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton’s intervention in a foreign au pair visa case says a police raid over the incident was politically biased and designed to deter future whistleblowers.
The Department of Home Affairs headquarters in Canberra was dramatically raided on October 11 as part of an investigation into leaks against Mr Dutton after he stepped in to stop two European au pairs from being deported.
AFP Deputy Commissioner Neil Gaughan told a Senate inquiry last year that he alerted Mr Dutton’s chief of staff Craig Maclachlan to the raid ahead of time.
- Jay A. Soled (Rutgers) & Kathleen DeLaney Thomas (North Carolina), Automation and the Income Tax, 10 Colum. J. Tax L. 1 (2018)
- Jay A. Soled (Rutgers) & Richard L. Schmalbeck (Duke), Determining an Asset’s Tax Basis in the Absence of a Meaningful Transfer Tax Regime, 10 Colum. J. Tax L. 49 (2018)
- Cameron Rotblat (J.D. Yale, 2018), Chinese State Capitalism and The International Tax Regime, 10 Colum. J. Tax L. 96 (2018)
- World's 26 richest people own as much as poorest 50%, says Oxfam (21 Jan 2019)
- France nears implementation of digital tax (21 Jan 2019)
- Man behind charity tax avoidance scheme received at least £2m (21 Jan 2019)
- Ex-UBS Worker Guilty of Money Laundering in Data Theft Case (21 Jan 2019)
- Edinburgh pays top share of UK property tax (21 Jan 2019)
- Flouting laws, Nepalis invest in tax-haven nations (21 Jan 2019)
- Corporate trustee of The Cup Trust (charity run by accountants) responsible for ‘clear misconduct and mismanagement’ - Charity Commission concludes its inquiry into a charity at the centre of a tax avoidance scheme (18 Jan 2019)
- Spain takes another step towards 'Google tax' (18 Jan 2019)
- Economists Don't Know What the Top Tax Rate Should Be (18 Jan 2019)
- IMF Working Paper: Revenue Implications of Destination-Based Cash-Flow Taxation (18 Jan 2019)
- Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Has the Better Tax Argument (17 Jan 2019)
- EU suggests majority vote on digital tax by 2025 (17 Jan 2019)
- Google South Africa's tax mystery (17 Jan 2019)
- Nepalis in tax havens, Swiss banks, money laundering (17 Jan 2019)
- How States Can Help Shut Down Tax Havens by Cracking Down on Profit Shifting (17 Jan 2019)
- The gov't that did not see ¢30bn unreported gold leave Ghana (17 Jan 2019)
- Estonia scraps key part of new anti-money laundering legislation (17 Jan 2019)
- Azerbaijani banker's £1m diamond ring seized in 'dirty money' inquiry (17 Jan 2019)
- A year-on from the Carillion collapse, little has changed (16 Jan 2019)
- HMV is another example of how vulture funds have devoured the high street (16 Jan 2019)
- EU countries support protections for tax evasion leaks (16 Jan 2019)
- UK tax on offshore intangibles: 'serious' compliance issues (16 Jan 2019)
- Here's How US Businesses Actually Used Their Tax Cuts (16 Jan 2019)
- Most Americans want a 70% tax rate on earnings over $10000000 (16 Jan 2019)
- Here's Another Reason to Avoid Tax Avoidance (16 Jan 2019)
- Crumbs! Judge deems brownie a cake and free from VAT charges (16 Jan 2019)
- EU announces plan to scrap member state veto on tax policy (15 Jan 2019)
- Money laundering scandal costs trust amongst Danske Bank customers (15 Jan 2019)
- UK Taxman grabs £125bn in VAT (15 Jan 2019)
- The US Is a Low-Tax Nation Unless You Earn a Lot (15 Jan 2019)
- #RussianLaundromat – The EU's dirty money (14 Jan 2019)
- What might Brexit mean for the fight against money laundering? (14 Jan 2019)
- Why 70 per cent tax rates would require capital controls (14 Jan 2019)
- Brussels' bid to kill tax veto faces uphill battle (14 Jan 2019)
- Labour considers 'Amazon tax' for online retailers to aid struggling retailers (14 Jan 2019)
- Labour plans radical crackdown on 'failed' corporate regulators (13 Jan 2019)
- Labour plans regulator of regulators as check on corporate scandals (13 Jan 2019)
- Britain launches task force to tackle dirty money (13 Jan 2019)
- Cash-strapped councils look for tourist tax powers (13 Jan 2019)
- MPs attack ministers over delay to tax havens' public registers (13 Jan 2019)
- State aid: Commission opens in-depth investigation into tax treatment of Nike in the Netherlands (10 Jan 2019)
- Brexit could make the UK the money laundering capital of the world (10 Jan 2019)
- HMRC opens Profit Diversion Compliance Facility - reads liek an amnesty for tax avoiding MNEs (10 Jan 2019)
- HMRC targets multinationals with profit shifting disclosure (10 Jan 2019)
- UK Companies Can Avoid 'Google Tax' Penalties Under New Program (10 Jan 2019)
- Tenders in EU: how much goes to tax havens? (10 Jan 2019)
- We must act now to end the iniquitous injustice of Amazon's minimal tax payments (10 Jan 2019)
- UK money laundering reports hit record level in 2018 (10 Jan 2019)
- Revolving Doors: The Chancellor and the Office of Tax Simplification announce Bill Dodwell (Deloitte partner) as new Tax Director (10 Jan 2019)
- Self-employed risk fines after HMRC sends inaccurate tax reminders (10 Jan 2019)
- Which tax havens do Slovak firms prefer? (10 Jan 2019)
- US bill moves to end double taxation of Americans living abroad (10 Jan 2019)
- Unfairness in UK taxation is a modern phenomenon (10 Jan 2019)