Alex Cobham
Social Europe
United Kingdom
Contact Alex
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Past articles by Alex:
The long and winding road to global corporate tax justice
In theory, the Biden administration and the EU can collaborate to end multinational tax abuse. In practice, it’s not that simple. → Read More
New report, new website, new chapter for the Tax Justice Network
A lot of people will be visiting our website today to read about the State of Tax Justice 2020 report that we’ve just launched globally. But the regular visitors among you will have noticed a second major launch today from the Tax Justice Network: our new website and branding. What happened to the map? The […] → Read More
Tax Justice Network reaction to #FinCENFiles leaks
The FinCENFiles leak exposes two major flaws in the global regime to combat illicit financial flows → Read More
Tax justice at UN75
A dialogue on wealth and responsible tax conduct for a fair post-covid global economy”. → Read More
A UN Tax Convention – then a U-turn
Last night, the United Nations published a document with a ground-breaking tax justice recommendation for the global meeting of ministers of finance which takes place this Tuesday 8 September. But just a few hours later, the document was replaced with another, claiming to be the ‘advance unformatted version’. This document was identical in most respects, except for a lack of formatting – and the… → Read More
UN FACTI Panel envisages major global reforms
The problems the panel are addressing may be technically complex, but they are fundamentally political in nature. → Read More
A response to the European court’s bad Apple ruling
Today’s Apple decision confirms that the EU’s rules against state aid are not up to the job of preventing EU member states operating as tax havens. → Read More
US blows up global project to tax multinational corporations. What now?
> “(Other nations) had all come together” via the OECD to “screw America and that’s just not something we’re ever going to be a part of”. ~ US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer addressing Congress, 17 June 2020, per Sydney Morning Herald. Boom. The US has blown up ‘BEPS 2.0’, the OECD’s tax reform process with the Financial Times reporting that US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin has… → Read More
Tax, reparations and ‘Plan B’ for the UK’s tax haven web
The killing of George Floyd by US police in Minnesota, on 25 May 2020, has sparked a public response both more powerful and more international than almost any of the previous cases in a very long line - including Breonna Taylor in Kentucky, 13 March 2020. The demands for justice extend far beyond the specifics of the individuals involved, and instead reach deep into the structurally racist… → Read More
Investors demand OECD tax transparency
Investors have joined tax experts and civil society activist in demanding that the OECD make significant improvements to its standard for country-by-country reporting by multinational companies - starting with the data being made public. → Read More
A Pyrrhic victory for the OECD?
The OECD secretariat obtained agreement from the Inclusive Framework to press ahead with its own proposals, following US-French agreement of sorts - but at what price for the organisation's legitimacy, and the future of international tax rules? → Read More
Global taxing rights: ‘The genie is out of the bottle’
Our virtual conference on global taxing rights saw experts from the OECD, G24, South Centre, IMF, World Bank, ICRICT, BEPS Monitoring Group, Finnish government and others weigh up the technical and political prospects for the OECD tax reform process - and generated a surprisingly broad consensus on some critical points. → Read More
Will the OECD tax reforms collapse? Three scenarios
The OECD's process for reform of international tax rules has just been torpedoed by the United States. → Read More
A historic day for unitary taxation
In Paris and London, demand for a comprehensive shift to unitary taxation is reaching new peaks. → Read More
We Could Eliminate Extreme Global Poverty If Multinationals Paid Their Taxes
The cost of global corporate tax avoidance is $500 billion and poor countries are bearing 40 percent of it. → Read More
#MauritiusLeaks primer: What to know about corporate tax haven Mauritius
Why Mauritius? Four key features of this small island in the Indian Ocean. → Read More
Research fellow in financial secrecy, for new research grant
We're looking for a star research fellow to work on a project led Daniel Haberly (University of Sussex) and Alex Cobham (Tax Justice Network). → Read More
Country by country reporting for the Sustainable Development Goals
We must develop a framework to carry the logic of the Sustainable Development Goals into a set of core indicators for reporting by individual companies. → Read More
Protected: How the UK can raise £2.5bn from tax-avoiding multinationals today
The UK government still hasn't used a legal power it gained two years ago to deter corporate tax dodging. → Read More
UNCTAD journal highlights tax thought leadership
We’re delighted to share a guest blog from Bruno Casella of UNCTAD (the UN Conference on Trade and Development), highlighting the newest edition of their journal Transnational Corporations, which we heartily recommend (and our paper on the history and use of Country-by-Country Reporting will be published soon…) As Bruno lays out below, this edition showcases some of the most important new… → Read More