Millionaires are not fleeing countries to escape taxes. The Tax Justice Network has analysed these claims and found it's questionable data published by a firm that helps the super-rich buy their way out of rules that apply to everybody else. In fact, things are changing for people in the business of helping to sell passports and residency. Some doors are closing... Plus, we look at the latest results from the Financial Secrecy Index - what are the latest global trends and have you heard of an an...
Jun 27, 2025•46 min•Ep. 155
The life-changing, life-saving, transformational nature of tax - for people and planet. Ireland's got a tax windfall of about €14 billion - that's roughly $15 billion. What are they going to do with it..? "This is the kind of moment that doesn't come around often and we really need to seize it. Or if we let the opportunity slip through our fingers, it's going to have impacts for future generations." ~ Mansi Rawat, Social Justice Ireland We don't do enough about blue sky thinking on how tax can t...
May 29, 2025•35 min•Ep. 154
The Taxcast looks at the battle for freedom of the press in Switzerland and the implications for the rest of the world. Investigative journalists like Bastian Obermayer risks arrest, fines and imprisonment if he sets foot in Switzerland again, and Swiss journalists are having to turn away strong public interest stories - for fear of not just rich and powerful people coming after them, but also the Swiss state. Switzerland's always been famous for its banking secrecy laws and it's never been the ...
Apr 29, 2025•36 min•Ep. 153
How easy is it to get filthy rich selling arms to anyone who'll pay? There may be sanctions, there may be laws, but even though he's the FBI's most wanted fugitive, a Chinese arms dealer and manufacturer has evaded arrest for two decades. Who could be better to investigate one of the world’s most dangerous men and tell this story than Panama Papers journalists? Taxcast host Naomi Fowler speaks to Frederik Obermaier about the book The Chinese Phantom: the Hunt for the World's most Dangerous Arms ...
Mar 27, 2025•36 min•Ep. 152
Listen to the Taxcast wherever you get your podcasts. You can subscribe by email and get lots of resources and further reading on our website here: https://podcasts.taxjustice.net/production/taxcast/ The Tax Justice Network has monthly podcasts in different languages focused on different regions of the world, all available here https://podcasts.taxjustice.net/ Also available there is our series The Corruption Diaries; a journey through the eyes of anti-corruption veterans, with unique perspectiv...
Mar 05, 2025•50 sec
The rollercoaster story of the battle in the US (the world's biggest global financial secrecy offender) over the implementation of a beneficial ownership register, the attempts to stop it and the (many) lessons learned from the UK's registers. The US's Corporate Transparency Act seemed to be on track. Until it wasn't... "Everything is bigger in Texas, that's what they like to say! And as we've learned, even court orders are bigger in Texas." Meanwhile, we take a look at UK company registration p...
Feb 27, 2025•37 min•Ep. 151
We look at the Bureau of Investigative Journalism story about a Syrian kleptocrat and alleged war criminal, and the British Crown Dependency of Guernsey. It throws up all kinds of questions about policing compliance, enforcement and the need for public beneficial ownership registers, with good quality information. Also, on day one of his presidency, Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the OECD's global minimum tax deal. So what now? We'll talk to the Tax Justice Network's Alex Cobham. F...
Jan 31, 2025•44 min•Ep. 150
A world where someone pays $6.2 million for a banana duct-taped to a wall is a world that needs wealth taxes. But when wealth taxes are considered by politicians and governments, unsubstantiated spin and myth making dominates the debate. (If you can call it a debate). We look at the Tax Justice Network's modest wealth tax proposal which could help governments increase their national budgets by 7 percent a year, a potential global revenue of more than 2 trillion US dollars annually. And we discus...
Dec 17, 2024•33 min•Ep. 149
What are the implications of Donald Trump's election victory for tax justice and the anti-corruption fight in the US and globally? We see a moment of clarity... Host Naomi Fowler talks to Alex Cobham of the Tax Justice Network based in Europe and Zorka Milin of the FACT Coalition in Washington, US. We also have two very good pieces of news: one is the latest vote at the UN as countries vote overwhelmingly to take negotiations on the UN Tax Convention to the next step, leaving the blocker nations...
Nov 28, 2024•40 min•Ep. 148
Campaigning for change can feel like banging your head against a brick wall sometimes, but change is coming. On the Taxcast this month host Naomi Fowler talks us through three big tax justice wins: First, the draft UN convention - showing exactly why the United Nations is so much better and more democratic a place for the world to truly reform international tax rules. Second, the Financial Action Task force has announced important changes which indicate a shift away from the colonial mindset tha...
Oct 31, 2024•34 min•Ep. 147
Are banks claims about their financing of fossil fuel companies true, or are they green laundering? The Tax Justice Network has been following the money, and our investigations show how financial secrecy is allowing banks to hide the true scale of their backing for activities that are accelerating the climate crisis. It's an international scandal. Plus: the judgment is final: Apple must now pay back taxes in Ireland of 13 billion euros, over 14 billion dollars. It's a big win for the European Co...
Sep 26, 2024•56 min•Ep. 146
There are some massive heists happening that many of us have never heard of. Taxcast host Naomi Fowler talks to investigative journalist and author Geoff White about how crypto and the tech industry are impacting money laundering, and challenging national and international security. The rights and responsibilities for the tech and crypto industry, and 'freedom of speech' defences are being tested in court. The outcomes will have profound effects on all of us. "625 million is a serious contender ...
Jul 30, 2024•36 min•Ep. 145
In this episode: we go to the US to look at how African Americans were overtaxed and dispossessed - a lesser known story of struggles against tax injustice, from the experience of George Floyd's great great grandfather to this day. Taxcast host Naomi Fowler speaks to historian and author Andrew W Kahrl of The Black Tax: 150 years of theft, exploitation, and dispossession in America: "Every stage of the research on this book was one revelation after another. These legalized forms of theft actuall...
Jun 28, 2024•38 min•Ep. 144
In this episode: we bring you stories on how we've all been cheated, and look at some of the actors involved in the corruption of tax policy making in Australia; the consequences have rippled out to affect the rest of the world. Two of the OECD's top people seem to be compromised on matters of tax and the public interest. So what does that say about their motivations? What does it say about the motivations of the organizations they work for? Should an organisation like the OECD be so strongly co...
Jun 01, 2024•47 min•Ep. 143
"This will supersede them all." Offshore specialist and human rights lawyer Paul Beckett of Corlett Bolton & Co sounds the alarm on the fast development of 'blockchain havens.' The Tax Justice Network's Bob Michel speaks about the challenges regulators, anti-corruption campaigners and poorer nations face. A transcript of the podcast is available here: https://podcasts.taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Blockchain-havens-transcript-2.pdf Further reading/resources: Paul Beckett's book: ...
Apr 30, 2024•52 min•Ep. 142
Crime doesn't pay - or does it?! Taxcast host Naomi Fowler talks to former police investigator, asset recovery specialist and co-author of The War on Dirty Money Tristram Hicks about the state of criminal asset recovery: "We haven't started the war on dirty money. There's this disconnect that's taking place at a strategic level." PLUS: The Tax Justice Network's Alex Cobham analyses Australia's much awaited, revised (aka watered down) legislation to tackle multinational tax abuse - disappointing ...
Mar 28, 2024•46 min•Ep. 141
While we wait for a global tax body at the United Nations, what are the ways forward for nations desperate to tax multinationals fairly? We talk unitary taxation in a special extended interview with Emeritus Law Professor, coordinator of the BEPS Monitoring Group and Tax Justice Network special advisor Sol Picciotto . Plus: the return of our analysis slot - Taxcast host Naomi Fowler talks to Zorka Milin of the FACT Coalition about the US's new beneficial ownership registry and its shortcomings; ...
Feb 29, 2024•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 140
On the Taxcast this month: People power for tax justice is on the rise like never before. We kick off 2024 with inspiring stories on campaigns for tax reform from around the world: strategies, successes, limitations, and what we can learn from the first in-depth studies of their kind by International Budget Partnership . Plus: Malawian poet and Senior Tax Investigations Officer Robert Chiwamba pays tribute to tax collectors everywhere. You can watch him perform We Will Count Them here. Transcrip...
Jan 26, 2024•39 min•Ep. 139
In this brand new Tax Justice Network weekly podcast we take listeners on a journey through the eyes of anti-corruption veterans who were on the frontline of events that have defined our world today, with stories and perspectives on reform you won't hear anywhere else. In Series 1 we sit down with leading white collar crime lawyer and senior Tax Justice Network adviser Jack Blum who tells us about his life's work during a period of huge geopolitical change and transformed global tax and financia...
Jan 18, 2024•2 min
In an extended Taxcast edition this month, a century of tax rule setting by the former imperial powers has been overturned: we look at the UN vote on global tax reform. Taxcast host Naomi Fowler follows events at the UN, the failed efforts to block it and explores what it all means with Alex Cobham of the Tax Justice Network. Featuring: Alex Cobham of the Tax Justice Network UN representatives from Nigeria, South Africa, the Bahamas, the UK, the US, Spain, Russian Federation, Cameroon. Hosted by...
Dec 18, 2023•56 min•Ep. 138
On the Taxcast this month, the story of what happened when the US tax authorities, the IRS, decided to crack down on Microsoft, one of the world's biggest tech companies. Worthy of a thriller movie with its twists and turns, there are many lessons for governments worldwide. And it's not over yet. Featuring: Zorka Milin of the Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency Coalition Paul Kiel of ProPublica Samantha Jacoby of the Centre on Budget and Policy Priorities Andrew Leigh , MP and Au...
Nov 30, 2023•39 min
The US government has spent an estimated $1 trillion on their ‘war on drugs.’ But over 50 years later, the cross-border flows of illegal drugs, arms and money have increased. In the second part of a two part series, we look at the failed so-called ‘war on drugs’ - the movement to decriminalise, regulate and tax - opportunities, challenges for lower income nations, and the role of tax justice. Featuring: Associate Professor of International and Organised Crime at Bristol Law School, Dr Mary Young...
Oct 26, 2023•39 min
The US government has spent an estimated $1 trillion on their 'war on drugs.' But, over more than 50 years, the cross-border flows of illegal drugs, arms and money have increased. It's a mess. And it didn't need to be this way. We look at the failed so-called 'war on drugs' and how to stop wasting precious lives. In part one of a two part series, we start with the supposed 'goodies' and the 'baddies.' Featuring: Criminology lecturer Karina Garcia-Reyes of the University of the West of England, a...
Sep 28, 2023•32 min
We're experiencing the hottest global temperatures ever recorded. For millions of us, the climate crisis is already hitting hard. And we need to know, we must know - WHO are the beneficial owners of the climate crisis? It's surprisingly difficult to find out... Featuring: Franziska Mager , Senior Researcher and Advocacy Lead (Climate & Inequalities), Tax Justice Network Dario Kenner , Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Sussex and author of the book Carbon Inequality Victor Galaz o...
Jul 27, 2023•39 min
In this episode Naomi Fowler looks at how the very wealthy shape the world, why the rest of us really, really can't afford them. And, how it never ends just with the pet mansions and the cashmere-lined private jets, as the fascinating story of the EU Court of Justice ruling (reversing progress on public registers of beneficial owners of companies) demonstrates...But, there's plenty we can do about it! Featuring: Florencia Lorenzo of the Tax Justice Network Mark Bou Mansour of the Tax Justice Net...
Jun 29, 2023•41 min
When dominant multinationals get to run the world, it's not a happy place. Or a very secure one. For a long time governments have failed to take the threat from monopolies and the corporate concentration of power seriously, and deal with it. But recent crises have demonstrated how the neoliberal era is crumbling around us and governments must take action. In this episode we look at the challenges and how to tackle this in the public interest. And, in the US, Minnesota nearly took a historic step...
May 25, 2023•42 min
It's horrific that there are so many people across the world who still don’t have access to ‘survival rights.’ Things like basic sanitation, clean water, quality education, decent healthcare so that mothers can survive childbirth - and so their children can even survive their childhood! This is where tax justice gets the most urgent, because tax literally saves lives . And we're going to prove it to you. In this Taxcast edition, host Naomi Fowler talks to people who’ve looked at new data that de...
May 01, 2023•36 min
After 30 years on the run, Italy's most wanted fugitive Matteo Messina Denaro of the Cosa Nostra has been arrested in Sicily. We look at the costs of organised crime, both economic and societal, the contagion that financial secrecy facilitates, and how to reverse the rot. Secrecy jurisdictions and tax havens have made it possible for mafiosi to progress from crossing physical borders with bank notes stuffed in suitcases, to being able to pour unlimited amounts of money into the financial system....
Feb 23, 2023•40 min
In this extended special episode of the Taxcast, we look at the 'Desai Papers' - the story you probably never heard of: it goes back decades and looks at a key player in the making of tax haven Mauritius that's been hurting Indians and Africans ever since. We speak with a whistleblower and the journalist who broke the story. Is the Indian government investigating? What does the story tell us about the global economy? Transcript available here (some is automated) https://taxjustice.net/wp-content...
Jan 31, 2023•45 min
There's been a shift in global power, a tax justice milestone, and the powerful nations couldn't stop it... In this episode, Naomi Fowler gives you a fly-on-the-wall take on what happened at the United Nations on November 24th 2022. We look at the power plays around a fundamental global power shift - the beginning of the end of the OECD’s 60 year reign as the world’s leading rule-maker on global tax. Featuring: Alex Cobham of the Tax Justice Network Rachel Etter-Phoya of the Tax Justice Network ...
Dec 16, 2022•37 min
