Links Oct 19

Civil society calls for measures to stop the drain of resources Eurodad
Oct 18 - Reporting on an event organised by Latindadd, highlighting serious challenges faced by developing countries trying to mobilise their own resources for development.

Cayman: Mac ‘knocking on doors’ Cayman News Service
Oct 18 - 'The premier said he was “knocking on doors” in Asia, a “land of expanding economies where investors are looking for new opportunities.”  ... “We have to go to the right places, to knock on the right doors; whether that is to try to stop the EU from forcing us to 'converge' our financial services legislation with theirs, as we have had to go all the way to Greenland to do, or it is to seek the right kind of investment."'

Tax Fairness is a Key to Addressing Poverty Canadians for Tax Fairness
Oct 18 - "Until recently many progressive groups, including progressive political parties, have shied away from advocating for tax fairness and tax reform fearing that the issue was political dynamite. ... But the tide is turning."

Glaxo Canada Wins Key Transfer Pricing Case Tax-News
Oct 19 - "Canada's highest court has backed pharmaceuticals giant GlaxoSmithKline Plc in a landmark battle over the use of transfer pricing rules to reduce its federal tax bill. ... The saga is not completely over, however. In its judgment, the Federal Court of Appeal had declared that the case should be returned to the Tax Court, for a further re-assessment."

A look at tax havens by the Fortune 500 Business Insider
Oct 18 - On a new report from Citizens for Tax Justice - "the 285 members of the Fortune 500 that have parked money overseas would owe an estimated $433 billion in taxes if and when it is repatriated. No wonder these companies are working so hard to get a "repatriation holiday" even though the one given in 2004 did not yield any significant new investment, but lots of dividends and stock buybacks."

U.S.: Levin Writes to Bipartisan Leaders on Closing Offshore Loopholes, Avoiding ‘Fiscal Cliff’ Sen Carl Levin website
Oct 17 - "Seeking to help step back from the “fiscal cliff,” Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., chairman of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, has written to congressional and administration leaders on the need to address offshore tax abuses as part of a balanced deficit-reduction package."

Bank secrecy targeted in money laundering case swissinfo
Oct 17 - 'A spectacular case involving French and Swiss citizens and linking drug smuggling, money laundering and tax evasion is likely to further tarnish Switzerland’s image as a “tax haven”, only too ready to accept “dirty money” ... the well-known investigating magistrate, Eva Joly, described drug smuggling and tax evasion as "two sides of the same coin".'

Switzerland/U.S.: Bank heads’ “immoral behaviour” riles staff swissinfo
Oct 17 - More on the story of "thousands of bank staff and consultants whose names have been turned over to the U.S. Justice Department by Swiss banks suspected of tax offences across the Atlantic"-  reporting that the strategy was decided by those at the top, who remain protected.

See also:
Ex-Swiss banker may be helping U.S. in tax probe-lawyers Reuters
Oct 17 - "A former Swiss banker accused of helping rich Americans dodge taxes may be cooperating with a broad U.S. government investigation of Swiss banks for providing tax evasion services."

African Nations Join OECD Tax Transparency Initiative Tax-News
Oct 19 - "The OECD has welcomed Burkina Faso and Cameroon to the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes."