The Taxcast

We look at a worrying law in Malta rushed through Parliament at unprecedented speed that doesn't just decriminalise tax abuse but 'connected breaches' too: "They've allowed the same culture to start being fomented that led to the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia." ~ Maltese journalist Julian Bonnici Plus: the role of Britain in the tax affairs of oil companies reaping rich rewards from the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, abuse of power in the US and...we have some good news from California. Transcript of the podcast: https://podcasts.taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Transcript_Taxcast_May_26.pdf Further Reading: How Britain is shielding big oil's Iran war windfall, Adam Ramsay https://abolishwestminster.substack.com/p/revealed-how-britain-is-shielding $30m an hour: big oil reaping huge war windfall from consumers, analysis finds https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/apr/15/big-oil-huge-war-windfall-consumers How Trump's IRS settlement could block tax audits of him, his family and their businesses https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn0pk2e22jro Trump's investigation compensation fund draws ire of Republicans - 'Stupid on stilts' https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx21d41p6dzo How crypto billionaires are trying to buy a Senate seat in Alabama https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/05/crypto-alabama-senate-coinbase-ripple-andreessen/ Congress Must Address Illicit Finance Gaps in Crypto Legislation Before Committee Markup https://us.transparency.org/resource/january-coalition-letter-congress-must-address-illicit-finance-gaps-in-crypto-legislation-before-committee-markup/ Committee-Approved Crypto Bill Leaves Dangerous Loopholes for Corrupt and Other Dirty Money https://us.transparency.org/news/committee-approved-crypto-bill-leaves-dangerous-loopholes-for-corrupt-and-other-dirty-money/ US drops fraud charges after billionaire Adani pledges $10bn investment https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2026/5/18/us-drops-fraud-charges-after-billionaire-adani-pledges-10bn-investment A Five-Year Prison Sentence for a Public Hero https://prospect.org/2024/05/21/2024-05-21-five-year-sentence-public-hero-charles-littlejohn/ The Secret IRS Files Archives https://www.propublica.org/series/the-secret-irs-files Bill 142: The Law Allowing Tax Crime, Fraud And Money Laundering To Be Settled Out Of Court – Amphora Media https://www.amphora.media/2026/03/bill-142-tax-crime-money-laundering-fraud-malta-law Aron Mifsud Bonnici Avoids Prosecution After Settlement in €1.6 Million Tax Evasion and Money Laundering Case https://www.amphora.media/2026/03/aron-mifsud-bonnici-tax-evasion-money-laundering-settlement-malta California steps up for tax fairness - Tax Justice Network https://taxjustice.net/2026/05/27/california-steps-up-for-tax-fairness/

Private Equity has gone under the radar for a very long time so – what is it, how's it affecting our lives? Our tax systems, and financial transparency are crucial for reining in damaging economic activity, something you see a lot of with Private Equity. In this joint podcast with the brilliant Byline Times podcast and its host Adrian Goldberg, the Taxcast's Naomi Fowler talks to Hettie O'Brien who's written The Asset Class: How Private Equity Turned Capitalism Against Itself and Alex Cobham of the Tax Justice Network. A transcript of the show is available here: https://podcasts.taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Taxcast_Byline_PE.pdf

A tiny group of very wealthy people are burning through carbon like there'll be no tomorrow. Taxcast host Naomi Fowler talks to economist Tasnia Hussain about the most effective ways to tax emissions and address carbon inequality. Plus: we bring you the highlights of the ongoing historic effort at the UN to overturn a century of global tax rule setting largely by former imperial powers at the OECD to suit them and their multinationals. With economist Tasnia Hussain, University of Toronto, also featuring Navid Hanif (UN Assistant Secretary-General), Ryad Selmani from Terre Solidaire, UN representative for Jamaica, UN represntative from the Youth Forum, and private jet and carbon emissions tracker Jack Sweeney and his lawyer (interviewed on TV). Hosted and produced by Naomi Fowler of the Tax Justice Network. Transcript of the show: https://podcasts.taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Taxcast_March_26_Transcript.pdf (May not be 100% accurate) Further resources: Want to cut emissions? Young advocate says tax the rich — and what they own https://www.nationalobserver.com/2026/01/19/opinion/carbon-emissions-taxation-billionaires Optimal Carbon Policy under Carbon Inequality https://tasniahussain.github.io/assets/Optimal_Carbon_Policy.pdf From Taylor's Jet to Taxation for Climate Rescue: Tasnia Hussain https://newsletter.economics.utoronto.ca/from-taylors-jet-to-taxation-for-climate-rescue-tasnia-hussain/ OECD collapse will lock in countries' tax losses to US firms https://taxjustice.net/press/oecd-collapse-will-lock-in-countries-tax-losses-to-us-firms/ US will be exempt from global tax deal targeting profits of large multinationals https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/jan/06/us-exemption-oecd-global-tax-deal-multinational-companies Washington's Proposed Millionaires Tax, FAQs: https://budgetandpolicy.org/resources-tools/2026/03/Updated-3-3-BPC-Millionaires-Tax-FAQ.pdf Washington state's 'historic' millionaire tax takes aim at super-rich – will it succeed? https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/mar/31/washington-state-millionaire-tax-wealth The party of the rich just taxed the rich in WA. Can that hold? https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/the-party-of-the-rich-just-taxed-the-rich-in-wa-can-that-hold/ Previous Taxcasts: https://podcasts.taxjustice.net/episode/134-who-owns-the-climate-crisis/ Who Owns the Climate Crisis? and The Millionaire Exodus Myth https://podcasts.taxjustice.net/episode/155-millionaire-migration-myth/ Our podcast website with all our podcasts is https://podcasts.taxjustice.net/

Britain has turned its capital into a global money laundering machine. The pavements of central London are home to a soaring number of rough sleepers, yet its streets are lined with empty mansions. Who owns these houses? Often, no one knows – because the wealthiest people in the world have built the perfect system to hide their assets. In this explosive new podcast series Death in Westminster Professor Kojo Koram (author of Uncommon Wealth: Britain And The Aftermath Of Empire) and Dr Dalia Gebrial (Novara Live co-host) will uncover how secret offshore billions are ruining Britain. Produced by Planet B Productions and released by Novara Media in March 2026. Available wherever you get your podcasts. More details here: https://novaramedia.com/category/audio/death-in-westminster/

"Tax is one of the smartest investments you can make." That's Professor Chris Harrop's promise to companies, and his new tax funded impact model proves it by helping quantify how paying tax is not only good for their businesses, but for the economies they're operating in, and of course for people and society. Plus: Why have OECD countries just bent the knee to Donald Trump and given up their sovereign rights to tax US businesses operating within their own borders? Naomi Fowler speaks with Zorka Millin of the FACT Coalition about how US companies now have an exemption from the global minimum corporate tax. Also, Zorka discusses some progress on the Corporate Transparency Act's rollercoaster journey in the US towards setting up a beneficial ownership register - a court ruling has pushed things a little further forward, which is good news since the United States is the world's biggest financial secrecy offender. Now some of the watering down of the act needs to be reversed... And finally, the UK has strengthened its whistleblower reward scheme, lawyer Mary Inman of Whistleblower Partners tells us more. Featuring: Zorka Millin of the Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency Coalition, Chris Harrop, Professor of Sustainable Business at the Huddersfield University Business School in the UK, non-executive director with the Fair Tax Foundation, a founding partner of the Human Centre, and lawyer Mary Inman of Whistleblower Partners. Hosted and produced by Naomi Fowler with Leo Schick. Transcript of the show: https://podcasts.taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Taxcast_January_26_Transcript.pdf Further Reading: OECD collapse will lock in countries' tax losses to US firms - Tax Justice Network https://taxjustice.net/press/oecd-collapse-will-lock-in-countries-tax-losses-to-us-firms/ The OECD's "Side-by-Side" System Preserves, But Weakens, the Global Minimum Tax https://thefactcoalition.org/policy-brief-oecd-side-by-side-system/ U.S. Court of Appeals Upholds Landmark Anti-Money Laundering Law https://thefactcoalition.org/court-upholds-landmark-anti-money-laundering-law/ A new ESG metric: Tax Funded Impact – How fiscal multipliers turn fair tax into tangible social value https://fairtaxmark.net/a-new-esg-metric-tax-funded-impact-how-fiscal-multipliers-turn-fair-tax-into-tangible-social-value/ Lawyer Mary Inman writes on the UK's strengthened whistleblower reward scheme: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/mary-inman-81229_whistleblowers-activity-7399741339099197440-aGq3?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAAAA404Bhqfzti-v3tZUVu1UF__9Eyi8fKs