Links Nov 12

We've been putting up a host of story links every week or two, and we will continue to do this. It probably makes sense to do this rather more often. Just two or three per day might be a good number to aim for, although for reasons of time and resources this won't be achieved, and coverage will be patchy, at least for now. We will try our best.

Here are today's short list:

Making tax cuts work
Increase personal allowances and pensions but end offshore loopholes and start to tax derivative trades. Prem Sikka, The Guardian.

Banks reap big tax breaks atop bailout billions
Associated Press. Some of the US' biggest banks are in for a windfall — on top of the $700 billion government bailout — thanks to a new tax policy quietly issued by the Treasury Department. In some cases, the tax breaks could exceed the cost of acquiring the banks.

Brown should tee up a shot at tax havens
Shutting British tax havens exploited by the filthy rich and big corporations in the UK and US could produce winners. From Britain's Daily Mirror.

Nick Clegg calls for tax cuts worth £18bn
Guardian. Oppositon leader will call for the government to clamp down on tax havens. "There's a particular UK responsibility here, since half the world's significant tax havens are under British sovereignty," he will say.

Development fund slammed over tax avoidance
Accuntancy Age. CDC Group has been accused of deliberately avoiding paying tax through the use of offshore tax havens and other private equity-style investment techniques. The Department for International Development part-owns the fund.

Why we have the right to interfere in tax haven’s affairs
Richard Murphy on whether the UK car or any other major developed nation has the right to interfere in the affairs of the world’s tax havens.