The Taxcast

'Hello. This is John Doe. Interested in data? I'm happy to share.' We talk to the two journalists who got the Panama Papers scoop, Bastian Obermayer and Frederik Obermaier who've written a book about their experience. Plus: what does Brexit mean for tax justice? We discuss the F4 (unholy) alliance between Switzerland, Hong Kong, Singapore and the UK, and the accelerated corporate tax race to the bottom.  

How different could the lives of those in poverty have been without secrecy jurisdictions? We give you the very latest estimates on the missing trillions offshored from the world's developing regions. Also: #Brexit and the special interests behind it: “Nakedly, brazenly, they're pushing the City of London's deregulated, criminal approach to finance”. Plus, the Panama Papers shed some light on secretive, pro-tax haven US lobbying group the Center for Freedom and Prosperity's funders.  

What is corruption? Well, that's a political question, and the answer depends on who you ask. We discuss the anti-corruption summit in the City of London, the world's capital of sleaze and ask if the sun ever set on the colonial era and the idea that corruption is a poor country issue. We explore extortive corruption versus collusive corruption and look at a new Poll which indicates for the first time the vast gulf between what the British people consider corrupt, and what has become a 'normal' way of doing business and politics. The overlap between the public and private spheres raises serious questions about democracy – and the nature of global fraud.  

We discuss the biggest offshore leak in history, the #PanamaPapers: could it provide an opportunity for nations to expand their secrecy market share? Once again, all eyes are on Trusts... Also, as the #LuxLeaks whistleblower Antoine Deltour's trial begins in Luxembourg, we ask why protections for whistleblowers are being eroded and what it says about the state of our democracy. An extended Taxcast this month presented and produced for the Tax Justice Network by @Naomi_Fowler You can read the Tax Justice Network daily blogs on www.taxjustice.net  

Is the US president really serious about tackling corruption in the finance sector? Are the presidential candidates? Now they can prove it. Bank Whistleblowers United tell us how they can restore the rule of law to Wall Street and avoid the next financial crisis in 60 days without any new legislation. Plus: why a wave of tax amnesties is likely to sweep across the world (how does 1% tax and immunity from prosecution sound?) and what the very first transparency data on banks exposes about how they do business.  

Which country is the second easiest in the world after Kenya to set up an anonymous shell company? We shine the spotlight on Tax haven USA and the lawyers secretly filmed by Global Witness advising a fake corrupt African government Minister. Also: we discuss Google's tiny tax payment in the UK, how politicians are interfering with the independence of our tax authorities, and the rise of the unnoticed tax haven of Taiwan. Plus more scandal and analysis.

What's Scotland got to do with the plunder of Moldova? We take a look at the 'Wild West' of Scottish Limited Partnerships. Also, we discuss the tensions in the EU; is the net finally closing on multinational companies, the tax minimisation deals they've been getting from various European countries and the big four accountancy firms who advised them? Just how bad was the sell off of one of Colombia's most profitable power generation companies? And what's former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair got to do with it? Also, we talk about the MEP who's dragging the European Commission through the courts to get access to papers they'd rather we didn't see. John Christensen will eat his hat if they DON'T reveal what MEP Fabio De Masi suspects they will: 'systematic political backup for a tax avoidance cartel that costs taxpayers in the EU hundreds of billions of dollars annually.'

We get some insights into the usually closed world of the wealth managers who serve the super-rich. Plus:on a par with Kissinger being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize? We discuss how the British Banker's Association's got one of their own into the UK government Treasury, why Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg's $35 billion 'charity' pledge isn't what it seems, and the anonymous survey of accountants that shows corruption is rife and the self-regulating profession can no longer be trusted.

Why is the City of London losing so much business to New York, Hong Kong and Singapore? Our conclusions are quite different from those of a British Bankers Association report on the subject. Plus: the crazy UK-China nuclear power station deal: a sweetener for closer ties between the two nation's financial sectors? One year after #LuxLeaks exposed some of the secret tax deals being done between government tax authorities and multinational corporations we ask how many more 'illegal state aid' deals might have been made? Plus we have a special focus on the results of the latest Financial Secrecy Index 2015 released this month: we look at the top ten worst offenders and ask what can be done about them.

We look at the remittance cartel, their 'taxing of the poor' with monopoly prices in a juicy $450-500 billion market. Also: 'comfort letters' and the game changing European Commission ruling that the tax agreements between Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Starbucks and Fiat constitute illegal state aid, we analyse the rich country club of the OECD's BEPS proposals for reform of the global corporate tax system: will it really address corporate tax avoidance and evasion?