CBS Tax Colloquium - Workshop 1: Enablers of Financial Crime: Tax, Finance and Societies

Chair/Moderator: Yvette Lind 

Keynote: Professor Rose-Marie Belle Antoine, The University of the West Indies at St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago

Paper 1: 'The tax authority as a structural enabler of financial crime'

This paper emerges from policy research conducted at King’s College London on behalf of a cross-party group of UK legislators.  It concerns the structural role of UK tax authority HM Revenue & Customs in (effectively) enabling criminal tax evasion.  Two manifestations of this role are investigated:

(1) Procedural determinations that criminal activity is to be handled on a civil basis, with a view to merely collecting the evaded tax, have the direct effect of failing to secure prosecutions of the tax abusers in question, but they have the much more significant indirect effect of signalling that tax abuse of that nature can be perpetrated with relative impunity, perpetuating the problem.

(2) Constitutional ambiguities around the status and function of the tax authority have the consequence that it can appear to be acting independently of government, while in practice corruptly favouring some taxpayers over others at the behest of ministers.

The research traces these phenomena through legislation, formal statements of policy and a number of case studies, and shows how they create crucial theoretical misunderstandings about the way tax abuse works among taxpayers, policy-makers, academics, the tax commentariat, and even the senior judiciary.  Alternative understandings and policy approaches are suggested.

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Paper presenter 1: Clair Quentin, research associate to the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Responsible Tax 

Clair Quentin is a research associate at the Policy Institute, King's College London.

Discussant 1:  Katarina Fast Lappalainen, LL.D. and senior lecturer in Law & Information Technology (ITC) and jurisprudence at the Department of Law, Stockholm University

Katarina Fast Lappalainen has a J.D. in constitutional law. A former tax lawyer who is currently an assistant professor in law and information echnology at the Law Department at Stockholm University. She has published articles and book chapters regarding law and information technology, tax law, constitutional law and human rights law. She has also been the editor for several anthologies concerning taxation and law and information technology. Among others, she has been teaching law at Stockholm university in different legal areas and is frequently engaged as a speaker at different seminars and conferences.

Paper 2: 'Corporate tax avoidance and shareholding pattern: Evidence from India'

Corporate taxes are cost to shareholders, therefore to increase the dividend payout shareholders may introduce the companies to practices that lower tax liability. There is evidence to support higher voting participation by institutional investors in India and therefore they may be able influence a firm's financial decisions. This paper is the first for India that examines the relationship between effective corporate tax rates and pattern of share ownership. Another issue that has drawn the attention of regulators recently is round tripping, which is possible through opaque financial structures. The paper also explores the link between ownership patterns and round-tripping.

Paper presenter 2: Assistant Professor Dr. Suranjali Tandon, National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, New Delhi 

Suranjali Tandon is assistant professor at the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, New Delhi. She leads the work on international tax.

Discussant 2: Associate Professor Dr. Catherine Lions, Umeå University

Catherine Lions is currently associate professor in business administration at Umea School of Business, Economics and Statistics, Umea University, Sweden.She belongs to the Accounting and Finance section.  She was awarded the title of excellent teacher at Umea University in 2016 and she won the USBE Pedagogical prize in 2021. Her research covers legitimacy gaps, performance and value creation in various contexts. She is editor of the Pan African Journal of Business Management.

The workshop will end with a 20 minute open floor discussion.