Time for a USA Uncut II - in The Nation

From the Treasure Islands site:

Johann Hari has a brilliant article in The Nation (sorry, this is Feb 5, but I was travelling all last week, and still have to catch up), which starts like this:

"Imagine a parallel universe where the Great Crash of 2008 was followed by a Tea Party of a very different kind. Enraged citizens gather in every city, week after week—to demand the government finally regulate the behavior of corporations and the superrich, and force them to start paying taxes. The protesters shut down the shops and offices of the companies that have most aggressively ripped off the country. The swelling movement is made up of everyone from teenagers to pensioners. They surround branches of the banks that caused this crash and force them to close, with banners saying, You Caused This Crisis. Now YOU Pay.

As people see their fellow citizens acting in self-defense, these tax-the-rich protests spread to even the most conservative parts of the country. It becomes the most-discussed subject on Twitter. Even right-wing media outlets, sensing a startling effect on the public mood, begin to praise the uprising, and dig up damning facts on the tax dodgers.

Instead of the fake populism of the Tea Party, there is a movement based on real populism. It shows that there is an alternative to making the poor and the middle class pay for a crisis caused by the rich. It shifts the national conversation. Instead of letting the government cut our services and increase our taxes, the people demand that it cut the endless and lavish aid for the rich and make them pay the massive sums they dodge in taxes.

This may sound like a fantasy—but it has all happened. The name of this parallel universe is Britain."

Hari, of course, is referring to my favourite protest movement, UK Uncut. (As it happens, I wrote something along these lines, entitled Time for a USA Uncut, in December. Though Hari has outdone me by miles here.)

It's a long story, and currently only available on subscription, but well worth reading if you can get a copy. Really, it would seem logical that this is an issue whose time is come - and not just in the UK.

I've already quoted this at too much length, probably, but I can't help leaving you with this further taster of what the article's like:

"There has been an obsessive hunt by the media to discover who UK Uncut “really are.” They assume there must be secretive leaders pulling the strings somewhere. But the more I dug into the movement, the more I realized this is a misunderstanding. The old protest movements were modeled like businesses, with a CEO and a managing board. This protest movement, however, is shaped like a hive of bees, or like Twitter itself. There is no center. There is no leadership. There is just a shared determination not to be bilked, connected by tweets."

Right on.

Progressive U.S. tax movement outshines the Tea Party

We missed this when it came out on Wednesday, but better late than never. We hope US Uncut won't mind our re-posting in full.

On Tax Day weekend, a two-month old grassroots organization called US Uncut used a little humor, fun and creativity to dominate the media narrative about taxes. Local US Uncut organizers from Fayetteville, Arkansas to Boston, Massachusetts; from Seattle, Washington to Jackson, Mississippi; from New York, New York to Los Angeles, California; from Portland, Oregon to Orlando, Florida - all participated in the largest collective protest against corporate tax cheats in American history.

This wasn't done merely with signs and banners- we had zombies in Arkansas. The Paul Revere ride anniversary in Boston was accompanied by the call, "The cuts are coming! The cuts are coming!" In Chicago, "billionaires" walked an elephant and a donkey on a leash through the streets. At Union Station in Washington, DC, a bestselling British author signed free copies of his book, Treasure Islands, about offshore tax haven abuse at a Verizon store in the midst of pirates, drumming and dancing.

While the network pundits didn't spend a lot of time talking about US Uncut, they did spend a lot of time talking about what corporate tax cheats are costing our country by avoiding their fair share of taxes. And for the first time on Tax Day, there was a nationwide movement of Americans who were staging protests against tax evasion, instead of taxes in general. US Uncut took the streets on Tax Day. And in doing so, we took the narrative with us. From April 15th to April 18th, US Uncut won the day. This was our first key victory.

And I don't know about you, but I didn't once hear the phrase "tea party" mentioned in the news or around me in person.

Now, the public knows who we are and what we stand for. Expect people to ask you about US Uncut as more local actions take place. Expect your local cops to give you fist bumps as you hoist a "STOP THE CUTS- MAKE THEM PAY" poster. Expect a lot of curious questions about US Uncut from your family and friends.

The fight has just begun, and there's plenty of ground to cover. But we should all be proud of what we've done. We've already accomplished more in two months than many action-based organizations have in years. Push on, and keep fighting.

Solidarity,
CG

Who would have thought it, just a year ago? Hats off to all of them, and a special mention to Johann Hari who helped seed this sophisticated, unexpected grassroots movement.

US Uncut - it has arrived!

Fascinating development.

Or at least it looks like it - we don't have any good information yet as to who the organisers are. But this looks promising. And their first action follows Johann Hari's excellent article in The Nation, and this earlier piece of ours.

Already on twitter there are US Uncut groups springing up - @nycuncut, @brooklynuncut, etc.

Let's hope it grows real legs. Via the fast-growing TJN-USA, we hope to do everything to help.

We also notice, hat tip to Jamie Stern-Weiner, that the Daily Kos has shown that such a campaign, or a campaign on tax havens, might well have legs. Here's a section of an email we received:

Here's the interview on Daily Kos (about Nicholas Shaxson's book Treasure Islands.)

The thing to note about it, apart from the positive reception in the comments, is that it was both 'Rescued' and featured on the 'Recommended list'. The first of these means that it was selected ('rescued') as a good post and linked to on the front page, to give it greater attention. The second means that it was very popular among users of the site. Daily Kos has a system whereby if you like an article you 'recommend' it by pressing a button. The articles that receive the most recommends are then featured on the front page in the 'Recommended' list, as this one was.

What this shows is that the Daily Kos audience - the activist left-liberal wing of the Democratic base - is very interested in the arguments you're making. Which suggests to me that, again, this campaign has some serious legs.

There clearly is an appetite in the US for this stuff. Now, we hope, citizens can start to get organised. There really is a progressive alternative to the Tea Party here.

Links - Dec 21

Some links. Apologies for thin posting today.

When zombies win - Krugman
“Ireland,” declared George Osborne in 2006, “stands as a shining example of the art of the possible in long-term economic policymaking.” Whoops. It’s one thing to make deals to advance your goals; it’s another to open the door to zombie ideas. When you do that, the zombies end up eating your brain — and quite possibly your economy too.

MPs banned from US over Charterhouse – Daily Nation (Kenya)
The US has slapped a blanket ban on up to 11 MPs who are members of the House Finance, Trade and Planning Committee which tabled a report, passed in parliament, that cleared the scandal-plagued Charterhouse Bank and called for its re-opening. Now there is a motion to expel the U.S. ambassador.

Clegg wants full tax transparency - IoM Today
Asked whether he viewed the Isle of Man as a tax haven, Nick Clegg, leader of the junior party in Britain’s coalition government, rejected the use of such ‘artificial labels’. Coward.

The World Bank’s Slippery Advocacy of Tax Cuts - Progressive Economics
On the World Bank’s doing business rankings. The best scores go to countries with both ultra-low tax rates and streamlined administration.

Rock of wages: online gaming keeps Gibraltar's residents at work - Guardian
Gibraltar's gambler-friendly laws and tax regimes are turning it into a virtual Las Vegas. while British-based web operations paid a 15% gross profits tax and a 10% racing industry levy, offshore operators paid as little as 1.5% in tax . Under EU legal challenge, taxes will now rise, but “Nobody will leave.” An estimated 200,000 Spaniards bet €575m online in 2009. Unless they are honest enough to declare them, they pay no taxes on their winnings. Straightforward criminal abuse, courtesy of a UK Overseas Territory.

Proposal to Mauritius for Clampdown on Fund Transfers – Outlook India
Concerned over high volume of black money routing to the country as investment, New Delhi has approached the Mauritius government to curb such fund transfer. These officials will have to be incorruptible, and will need rocks in their head the size of Gibraltar if they are to resist the repression, lures, pressures and blandishments they will face on a daily basis.

UK tax authorities morale at rock bottom - PCS
Years of cuts and under-resourcing at HM Revenue and Customs have led to rock-bottom morale, with staff saying they have little confidence in their senior managers. In the latest departmental staff survey (pdf), only 11% of respondents expressed any positive confidence in senior managers’ decisions, with just 12% believing HMRC is managed well and only 15% believing the senior management team has a clear vision for the future. Hardly surprising, in light of all the sweetheart deals, attacks and cutbacks.

$2tn debt crisis threatens to bring down 100 US cities - Guardian
“We spent money we didn't have. We borrowed money just crazily. The credit card's maxed out, and it's over” Yikes. This could ignite tax debates.

India Has Created 10 Overseas Income Tax Units - Taxnews
The Indian Government has created 10 overseas income tax units and two of these, in Mauritius and Singapore, have already become operational. These offices will be used for the exchange of information, speeding up of the resolution of tax disputes and also assistance in transfer-pricing cases. These folk will have to be iron-willed and uncorruptible, or they will succumb to the lures and pressures.

Ordinance on the Administrative Assistance according to Double Taxation Conventions = Switzerland
The link to the English version of the Swiss ordonnance on international administrative assistance in tax matters. The rules for requests for administrative assistance are substantially more restrictive than OECD Article 26... The ordonnance will soon be transformed into a law project (with public consultation beginning in mid-January)

Germany raises 1.6 bln euros from tax evaders - AFP
German tax authorities recovered 1.6 billion euros this year from citizens who had stashed their cash in secret accounts in Liechtenstein and Switzerland, according to the weekly Der Spiegel.. . thanks to secret banking data from both countries which they had acquired relatively cheaply. Excellent value for money.

Auditors Face Fraud Charge - WSJ
New York Set to Allege Ernst & Young Stood By as Lehman Cooked Its Books. This would mark the first time a major accounting firm was targeted for its role in the financial crisis

Johann Hari: Your right to protest is under threat - Independent
When our politicians complained over the past few decades, in a low, sad tone, that our young people were “too apathetic” and “disengaged”, it was a lie. A great flaring re-engagement of the young has take place this year. With overwhelmingly peaceful tactics, they are demanding policies that are supported by the majority of the British people – and our rulers are trying to truncheon, kettle and intimidate them back into apathy.

Tax avoidance, tax compliance – and tax cheats - Tax Research.
On the differences between tax avoidance and tax compliance

BAE to admit failure in accounts records - FT
Lawyers say the case is likely to embarrass both BAE and former executives by detailing the convoluted and at times murky arrangements through which the company deployed agents to act on its behalf, often paying them through opaque tax havens.


The philosophical significance of UK-Uncut - Open Democracy
ethics and ideology are once more at the forefront of political contest in Britain

Why don't Britain's rich give to charity like wealthy Americans? - Daily Mail
the ­richest third of donors in Britain actually give less to charity, as a proportion of their earnings, than the poorest third. Americans who earn more than £150,000 a year give a staggering eight times as much to charity as do their British counterparts. We in Britain have lost sight of our own history of philanthropy. This week the Mail revealed that several of this country’s biggest companies are moving their headquarters abroad in order to avoid paying tax in Britain.

How corporate tax evasion can be tackled worldwide - FT letter
A treaty should provide for an objective definition of which taxable activity falls within which tax jurisdiction, based on the location of production, sales and management, and render the notion of an “official domicile” redundant. One possible approach to unitary taxation with formulary apportionment - see here for more background.

Lady Green’s dividend was funded by a loan - FT letters
From someone who doesn't understand what constitutes tax avoidance (see here) - but makes an interesting point to counter those who say that dividends were paid out of profits that had already been taxed in the UK.