The [corporate tax] system allows countries to compete with one another in a manner that destabilises the system itself. Countries compete to attract economic activity and to favour ‘domestic’ companies…Such a goal is not easily reconciled with another goal often explicitly held by governments: ensuring that companies should pay to some country or countries a… Continue reading Tax competition: Tax Justice Network and the Oxford University Centre for Business Taxation agree!
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The social construction of multinational firms’ tax behaviour
This week I am trying to help the undergraduate students that I teach to understand a range of scholarship that uses social constructivism to study the political economy. When you go back to first principles to teach something you often see some of your own work in a new light, and that is what I… Continue reading The social construction of multinational firms’ tax behaviour
Uganda’s tax treaties: a legal and historical analysis
It’s been a bit quiet on here recently, the result of a busy term at LSE. At least I am at not the only PhD-student-and-tax-blogger whose blog has been suffering from the demands of teaching and research! This week I’ve been at the International Centre for Tax and Development Annual Meeting, a chance to compare… Continue reading Uganda’s tax treaties: a legal and historical analysis
UN tax committee meets this week: but what is the UN model for?
I’m on my way to the UN tax committee’s annual session in Geneva. This year’s agenda contains quite a few interesting topics. I can’t write about them all, but I thought I might pick out three that seem particularly interesting. Since they are all discussions about the model treaty and its commentary, the common question… Continue reading UN tax committee meets this week: but what is the UN model for?
The Mopani saga and Zambia’s windfall tax: an alternative reading
In 2010, Zambian NGOs obtained a leaked copy of an audit report conducted for the Zambia Revenue Authority into Mopani Copper Mine, a subsidiary of the Swiss behemoth Glencore. I was working at ActionAid at the time, where we took an active interest in the case. The particular allegation concerning systematic transfer pricing abuse contained… Continue reading The Mopani saga and Zambia’s windfall tax: an alternative reading
Learning from past mistakes in tax and investment treaties
One big theme from the interviews I conducted on my recent African trip is that tax officials in developing countries are really starting to raise concerns about some of their tax treaties. This is particularly true of treaties with the Netherlands, Mauritius and other countries that can leave them vulnerable to treaty shopping, although it… Continue reading Learning from past mistakes in tax and investment treaties
Martin Hearson 