The Taxcast

In the May 2015 Taxcast: Do our politicians believe in the societies they serve or not? The Taxcast looks at making the tax returns of our elected representatives public, and the inspirational achievement of journalist Umar Cheema of the Centre for Investigative Reporting in making Pakistan only the fourth country in the world to publish the tax returns of its Parliamentarians. Also: how the British general election demonstrates political capture by financial interests; libertarian paradise - the world's newest tax haven; and is Singapore trying to shut down reporting on its tax haven status?

How just are our tax systems towards women? One Texan husband did the sums on what his stay-at-home wife's unpaid work was really worth in monetary terms. Plus: one of the USA's biggest corporations (and tax avoiders) is repatriating billions from offshore and re-focusing on good old manufacturing again, and remember how the UK Prime Minister was 'leading the world' in transparency measures not so long ago? We discuss a letter a former Cayman Islands lobbyist and Conservative peer wrote to reassure the tax haven that it was an empty gesture to distract from the proposed Financial Transaction Tax.

Democracy for sale: how our politics are heavily reliant on tax haven-friendly donors. Also, we ask: Why is HSBC shutting down offshore accounts in Jersey? Are we in the final few years of the corporate income tax? Is Australia's exempting of big companies from new transparency rules a joke? Plus more scandal and analysis you won't find anywhere else.

Just what does a bank have to do to lose its licence?! We look at the fall out from HSBCLeaks and ask how can we genuinely tackle criminality in global finance? Also: the latest research on crimes and fines in banking; why a recent threat to have UK Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories blacklisted won't exactly have them shaking in their shoes; plus more scandal and unique analysis.

How offshore is ruining the 'Beautiful Game' - the Taxcast scrutinises football's own goal. Also: how banks with criminal convictions are being allowed to continue to handle our money, how people may be allowed to apply for anonymity in the UK's register of beneficial owners to be introduced in 2016, and the meeting of the world's most powerful in that bastion of transparency, Davos, Switzerland. Plus more scandal and unique analysis.

In the December 2014 Taxcast: how mafia is corrupting democracy at the heart of Europe in Italy's capital city of Rome. Also, the #LuxLeaks whistleblower is arrested and makes his first public statements on why he did it, the UK Chancellor's 'Google Tax', is the EU Commission President backing away from making a register of the real owners of copmpanies and trusts public? Plus more scandal and unique analysis.

In the November 2014 Taxcast: 'You can lie and you can steal from us but this time we'll know who you are': Ukraine becomes the first country in the world to introduce a public registry of the real owners of companies. The Taxcast speaks to the Director of Ukraine's Anti-Corruption Action Centre about stopping corruption that continues to cost lives. Also: we take a look at the fallout from the latest leaks from the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists on corporate tax avoidance in Luxembourg, or #LuxLeaks, Kenya considers ending corporate tax holidays, and why is the taxpayer funded European Investment Bank lending money to companies that are heavy users of tax havens? All that and more scandal.

How much is corporate welfare costing us? Across the US they're going to start publishing the subsidies and tax breaks. We take a look at the latest research in the UK. Also: Ireland announces it'll abolish the 'Double Irish' tax dodge after the EU Commission finds Apple's tax deal is 'illegal state aid'. But what will they replace it with? Australians discover the true state of the tax contributions made by their top companies, and Tax Justice Network Africa makes history taking the Kenyan government to court in an unprecedented case over a tax deal with the tax haven of Mauritius.

In the September 2014 Taxcast: 'unpatriotic corporate deserters'? We ask why so many US companies are relocating. Also, the less reported side of the Scottish vote on independence, the OECD's latest 'action' plan on tackling international tax avoidance and much, much more.

In the August 2014 Taxcast: when was the last time you used a £100 bill, a 500 euro note or a 1,000 Swiss Franc note? We look at how Western Central banks and Treasuries are facilitating crime through high denomination bills. Also, tax haven reputation damage-management, Switzerland pulls a fast one on India, the European bankers raking in the bonuskis from sanctions against Russia and how the tax haven of Mauritius is...erm...expanding its portfolio. "I think it's terrible public policy to facilitate organised crime" Jim Henry Produced by @Naomi_Fowler for the Tax Justice Network and also featuring John Christensen of the Tax Justice Network, author of Laundry Men and many other books on financial crime Jeffrey Robinson, Assistant US Attorney General Lanny Breuer, Economist and asset recovery specialist Jim Henry.