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Tax information exchange, development, and the UK’s own tax agenda

The International Development select committee has published the government’s response to its report on tax in developing countries. Until recently, the inquiry had provided us with the most interesting case of MPs questioning multinational businesses on their tax affairs all year. I’ve followed it with interest, giving evidence to it on behalf of ActionAid in… Continue reading Tax information exchange, development, and the UK’s own tax agenda

The political economy of international taxation in developing countries: the Oslo version

Today I’m discussing my PhD research at Oslo University College, at a conference organised by Tax Justice Network Norway. Here’s the presentation. It’s mostly quotes from research papers to stimulate discussion for now – more detail to follow on this blog!

Obama’s reply to the Republicans on closing income tax “loopholes”

Just a quick post today because I’m at a conference. I thought this post on Start Making Sense was interesting. Dan suggests that the political debate in the US on the Bush tax cuts has adopted the language of ‘expenditure’ to refer to this proposed tax cut. It’s an interesting example of how the language… Continue reading Obama’s reply to the Republicans on closing income tax “loopholes”

Why the Public Accounts Committee should call the OECD to give evidence

I couldn’t watch yesterday’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) hearing. From what I could gather over Twitter it was a lot of fun, but didn’t shed any light on anything significant…and what we can learn from the evidence will I’m sure be covered on blogs elsewhere. What I did hear, though, was a fascinating ten minute… Continue reading Why the Public Accounts Committee should call the OECD to give evidence

Questions for the Public Accounts Committee today

This afternoon, Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) will be discussing “Taxation of Multinational Corporations” with Matt Brittin, Chief Executive Officer of Google UK, Troy Alstead, Starbucks Global Chief Financial Officer and Andrew Cecil, Director of Public Policy at Amazon. The Guardian reports that Starbucks may already have sustained lasting damage to its brand image from… Continue reading Questions for the Public Accounts Committee today