Links May 30

Tax reform needed in Argentina Voces en el Fénix (In Spanish)
Jorge Gaggero writes the editorial in the latest edition of Voices in the Phoenix.

Tax evasion, money laundering and tax havens Voces en el Fénix (In Spanish)
Insightful piece on connections between tax evasion and money laundering. Notes that Anglo-Saxon financial centers New York and London are those that benefit the most - at the expense of the rest of the world - by the opacity of the system of "tax havens"

Kenya: KRA sets its sights on landlords to grow tax streams Nation
May 29 - The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) brings in "the Geospatial Revenue Collection Information System (GEOCRIS)" that will "map out new developments coming up across the country as potential tax targets."

Exposing the Hocus Pocus of Trusts Social Science Research Network
The paper examines how parties to a trust arrangement can escape many scenarios of obligations. See also In trusts we trust.

Bangladesh: Expand tax net, not VAT: Rights groups The Independent
May 29 - Calls for the government to reconsider regressive expansion of VAT and curb "black money".

Lengthy Taylor sentence represents justice for Sierra Leoneans: Justice still needed for the people of Liberia Global Witness
May 30 - Press statement calls to attention how companies and individuals helped Taylor exploit the region’s resources to fund war.

The Greek offshore web of contagion – a reminder Treasure Islands
May 30 - Nick Shaxson notes the vast web of offshore connections, and Richard Murphy's commentary on how - "Greece is largely indebted via tax havens to a global financial system that behind the anonymity of the financial architecture."

Christine Lagarde, scourge of tax evaders, pays no tax Guardian
May 29 - "IMF boss who caused international outrage when she suggested that Greeks should pay their taxes earns a tax-free salary."


Private profit for public good? Can investing in private companies deliver for the poor? Eurodad
May 29 - New report "assesses whether external (non-domestic) public finance for private investments in the South lives up to promises to provide finance to credit-constrained companies in developing countries and to deliver positive development outcomes. More precisely, it looks into how much development finance goes to the private sector, as opposed to the public sector; which institutions deliver this type of finance and how; which types of companies are benefiting the most from public support; and how development institutions ensure they support responsible investments that contribute to equitable and sustainable development."

See also:
International development aid going to private companies The Bureau of Investigative Journalism
May 30 - "Eurodad’s research found many of the biggest investments in international aid are in fact going to firms based in tax havens."