The Taxcast

Tax is intensely political. It's routinely misreported by media of all kinds, and often it's the subject of downright disinformation. We look at how to deal with a lack of truth telling, from the experiences of the Tax Justice Network itself and those of a retired scientist who's had a lot of success in combating it. Plus: our new Real Estate Secrecy Index - who are the world's worst offenders? "They can't get away with this. It's a victory. It's a small victory for truth." ~ Alan Williams Key "Misinformation, fake news goes against democratic processes. You can't have proper democracy without pushing back against misinformation in the press." ~ Mark Bou Mansour "Real estate is not the only high value asset that you can use to hide illicit flows, but it's certainly one of the easiest and one of the most attractive." ~ Alex Cobham Transcript of the show available here: https://podcasts.taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/July-2026-script-1.pdf Featuring: Alan Williams Key, retired scientist, jazz musician and champion complainer to the Independent Press Standards Organisation Alex Cobham, Chief Executive, Tax Justice Network Mark Bou Mansour, Head of Communications, Tax Justice Network Leo Schick, co-producer of the Taxcast, The Corruption Diaries and freelance journalist Further reading: Express business coverage found to have breached Editors' Code 12 times this year https://pressgazette.co.uk/the-wire/newspaper-corrections-media-mistakes-errors-legal/express-business-coverage-found-to-have-breached-editors-code-12-times-this-year/ Alan Williams Key's successful complaint to the Independent Press Standards Organisation about claims printed about millionaire migration from the UK https://www.ipso.co.uk/rulings/00197-25/ Millionaire "exodus" claim backtracked but media re-run story anyway https://taxjustice.net/press/millionaire-exodus-claim-backtracked-but-media-re-run-story-anyway/ Study behind millionaire exodus claims drops author and numbers after fake data accusations - Tax Justice Network https://taxjustice.net/press/millionaire-exodus-study-drops-author-and-numbers-after-fake-data-accusations/ Introducing the Real Estate Secrecy Index - Tax Justice Network https://taxjustice.net/2026/06/23/introducing-the-real-estate-secrecy-index/ Financial Secrecy Index https://fsi.taxjustice.net/#scoring_id=316 

Despite the loud protests and misinformation, despite the Trump administration cutting taxes like there's no tomorrow, there's a wealth tax wave that's rising across US states...we look at the most successful models and what they tell us about the future. "It's really a matter of the politicians catching up to where the people already are" ~ William Rice, Americans for Tax Fairness Guests: William Rice, Americans for Tax Fairness and Evan Walker of Washington State Budget and Policy Center Hosted by Naomi Fowler, co-produced wsith Leo Schick for the Tax Justice Network. Transcript of the podcast: https://podcasts.taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Taxcast_June_26_transcript.pdf Further Reading: Washington's new Millionaires Tax offers big support to people throughout the state https://budgetandpolicy.org/schmudget/washingtons-new-millionaires-tax-offers-big-support-to-people-throughout-the-state/  Historic new policy – now signed into law – has been decades in the making! https://budgetandpolicy.org/schmudget/millionaires-tax/  Maine enacts millionaire tax in historic win for working families https://www.mecep.org/news/maine-enacts-millionaire-tax-in-historic-win-for-working-families/  Washington state's 'historic' millionaire tax takes aim at super-rich 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/ Study behind millionaire exodus claims drops author and numbers after fake data accusations https://taxjustice.net/press/millionaire-exodus-study-drops-author-and-numbers-after-fake-data-accusations/ 

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/