Links June 16

Tax havens are not sharing info on black money: India mydigitalfc.com
Jun 13 - Voicing “serious concern” over tax havens not sharing in full banking information on black money stashed abroad, Indian Finance Minister Mukherjee asked the OECD to revisit existing legal framework developed by the world body. 'OECD secretary general Angel Gurria at a joint press conference with Mukherjee was evasive on his remarks that some countries do not share past banking information.'

Jersey has exchanged just 36 pieces of tax data in more than 4 years - which is a long way from being transparent Tax Research UK
Jun 15 - Richard Murphy reports on the OECD’s peer review on tax information exchange agreements for Jersey, and observes, 'Tax information exchange agreements are hardly worth the paper they’re written on without the smoking gun to ensure that other countries are aware that their taxpayers have interests in the location that signs them. This latest evidence from Jersey proves that.'

India: OECD for long-term capital gains tax The Financial Express
Jun 15 - The OEC) has said India's decision not to impose a tax on long-term capital gains is a step backwards and will perpetuate tax avoidance. In 2009, the government decided to do away with the long-term capital gains tax in a bid to reduce the tax advantage enjoyed by those who used the Mauritius route to invest in the Indian stock markets.

S. Korea ramps up efforts to detect offshore tax evaders Business Ghana
Jun 14 - South Korea is stepping up efforts to ferret out people and businesses engaged in offshore tax evasion schemes by directly investigating foreign financial accounts. The move to expand tie-ups with foreign tax authorities comes in part as local investigators experienced problems carrying out probes.

Business groups come out against corporate tax holiday The Hill
Jun 14 - Business for Shared Prosperity and a coalition of other groups has come out against a corporate tax holiday for offshore profits, saying U.S. multinationals already have too much incentive to ship jobs abroad. They have also come out in recent weeks against continuing the Bush tax cuts for wealthy earners. See their Letter to Congress: No Tax Holiday for U.S. Multinationals.

Abusive Tax Avoidance Transactions U.S. Government Accountability Office
May 2011 - A new report on abusive tax avoidance transactions (ATAT), that range from frivolous tax schemes to highly technical and abusive tax shelters marketed to taxpayers by promoters selling tax advice. ATATs threaten the U.S. tax system's integrity if honest taxpayers believe that others do not pay their fair share of taxes.

Tax Havens - A Blight on Democracy and Development newnations.com
Jun 15 - By Peter Crisell: 'In this article, we draw attention to the fact that ‘free riding’ in relation to tax is a multi-million dollar global industry.'

Banks are the biggest corporate users of tax havens - by far Treasure Islands
Jun 15 - 'This is about the biggest users of tax havens among corporations around the world.The purpose of this blog is to point to the data sources this relies on. None of this data is new – nevertheless the data itself, and some of the nuances in it, are striking.'

Police hold 45 in Italian tax evasion probe Financial Times
Jun 16 - An Italian crackdown on tax evasion has reached into the heart of the capital’s business community with the arrests of 45 professionals suspected of operating a tax-dodging ring for hundreds of companies and clients. Police, who also seized properties, cars and luxury yachts, said a suspected €600m ($850m) in tax had been evaded.