Tax Burdens, Tax Dodging, & Tax Justice in the A&B and the Caribbean

The Big Issues

Around the world, the attention of the media, lawmakers, and ordinary citizens has been drawn to the many ways which some of us find to pay less taxes or no taxes at all, whether those means are lawful or unlawful. It’s one of the many fallouts from the Pandora Papers – a massive leak of financial information on the global elite. In this episode we ask: How does our tax avoidance and tax evasion impact our society? And how can we guarantee that the tax burden on each person is fair, and not unjust?

The host is Kieron Murdoch. The guests are:

1. Dr. Thomson Fontaine, an economist currently working in South Sudan. As an economist, he worked at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for 13 years. His work and writing have focused on growth, currency crises, development, fiscal management, and debt. He is from Dominica and was a Senator there previously.
2. Mr. Akaash Maharaj, Ambassador-at-Large for the Global Organisation of Parliamentarians Against Corruption known also as GOPAC. GOPAC is an International nongovernmental organization made up of parliamentarians from across the world, working together to combat corruption, strengthen good government, and uphold the rule of law.
3. Dr. Robertine Chaderton, Chartered Accountant and Fraud Examiner joining us this afternoon from St Kitts and Nevis. She is a retired Senior Lecturer from the University of the West Indies Cave Hill, Barbados, where she lectured in Accounting, Auditing, Fraud and Caribbean Taxation for 30 years. Currently, she lectures in Multijurisdictional Tax at the Graduate level. And she is currently compiling a book on taxation in the Caribbean.
4. Mr. Stafford Byers, an attorney originally from Antigua and Barbuda, joining us from New York where he works and resides.
5. Ms. Liz Nelson, Director for Tax Justice and Human Rights, at The Tax Justice Network. The tax justice network is an advocacy group consisting of a coalition of researchers and activists with a shared concern about tax avoidance, tax competition, and tax havens. Liz Nelson leads the network’s programme of work on Tax Justice, Human Rights and Equalities. She is based in Oxford.

This programme first aired on NewsCo Observer Radio 91.1 FM on October 24th, 2021. Get the latest news from Antigua and Barbuda at the Antigua Observer online.