[OpenSpending] Using public data to flag tax avoidance schemes?

Sun Jul 14 21:46:58 UTC 2013

That is very useful Jonathan and Tony. Thank you.

Crina

*Crina Boros*
Thomson Reuters Foundation
Data journalist
*
+44 (0)207 542 0720*
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On 12 July 2013 16:57, Jonathan Gray <jonathan.gray at okfn.org> wrote:

> Tony Hirst and I drafted this piece yesterday, which we thought might be
> of interest to some of you (also copied below):
>
>
> http://blog.okfn.org/2013/07/11/using-public-data-to-flag-tax-avoidance-schemes/
>
> J.
> USING PUBLIC DATA TO FLAG TAX AVOIDANCE SCHEMES?
>
> Today OpenCorporates <http://opencorporates.com/> added a new
> visualisation tool<http://blog.opencorporates.com/2013/07/11/open-corporate-network-data-not-just-good-but-better/> that
> enables you to explore the global corporate networks of the six biggest
> banks in the US.
>
> The visualisation shows relationships between companies that are members
> of large corporate groups.
>
> You can hover over a particular company within a corporate group to
> highlight its links with other companies that either control or are
> controlled by the highlighted company. It also shows which companies are
> located in countries commonly held to be tax havens.
>
> [image: OpenCorporates control map example]<http://opencorporates.com/viz/financial/index.html#goldman/ky>
>
> As well as corporate ownership data, OpenCorporates also publishes a
> growing amount of information detailing company directorships. Mining this
> data can offer a complementary picture of corporate groupings<http://blog.okfn.org/2013/07/11/using-public-data-to-flag-tax-avoidance-schemes/%E2%80%9Dhttp://blog.ouseful.info/2013/01/28/corporate-sprawl-sketch-trawls-using-opencorporates/%E2%80%9D>
> .
>
> The Offshore Leaks Database <http://offshoreleaks.icij.org/> from The
> International Consortium of Investigative Journalists<http://www.icij.org/>,
> released earlier this year, also contains information about “122,000
> offshore companies or trusts, nearly 12,000 intermediaries …, and about
> 130,000 records on the people and agents who run, own, benefit from or hide
> behind offshore companies”.
>
> As you may have seen, we’ve recently been thinking<http://blog.okfn.org/2013/06/25/what-data-needs-to-be-opened-up-to-tackle-tax-havens/> about
> how all of this publicly available information about corporate ownership
> networks might be used to help identify potential tax avoidance schemes.
>
> While the visualisation that OpenCorporates released today focuses on six
> corporate networks, we’d be interested in seeing whether we might be able
> to mine bigger public data sources to detect some of the most common tax
> avoidance schemes.
>
> As more and more corporate data becomes openly available, might we be able
> to identify patterns within corporate groupings that could be indicative of
> tax avoidance schemes? What might these patterns look like? To what extent
> might you be able to use algorithms to flag certain corporate groupings for
> further attention? And to what extent are others (auditors, national tax
> authorities, or international fraud or corruption agencies) already using
> algorithmic techniques to assist with the detection of such arrangements?
>
> There are several reasons that using open data and publicly available
> algorithms to detect potential tax avoidance schemes could be interesting.
>
> Firstly, as tax avoidance is a matter of public concern arguably civil
> society organisations, journalists and citizens should be able to explore,
> understand and investigate potential avoidance, not just auditors and tax
> authorities.
>
> Secondly, we might get a sense of how prevalent and widespread particular
> tax avoidance schemes are. Not just amongst high profile companies that
> have been in the public spotlight, but amongst the many other tens of
> millions of companies and corporate groupings that are publicly listed. The
> combination of automated flagging and collaborative investigations around
> publicly available data could be a very powerful one.
>
> If you’re interested in looking into how data on corporate groupings might
> be used to flag possible tax avoidance schemes, then you can join us on the School
> of Data discussion list<http://lists.okfn.org/mailman/listinfo/school-of-data>
> .
>
> --
>
> Jonathan Gray
>
> Director of Policy and Ideas  | *@jwyg <https://twitter.com/jwyg>*
>
> The Open Knowledge Foundation <http://okfn.org/>
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