WTA Blog

Dear WTA members, observers and friends:
Past Events:
17th World Taxpayers Conference in Sydney, Australia May 23-27, 2019

July 18th is when the Swedish taxpayers celebrated their Tax Freedom Day in 2018 according to the Swedish Taxpayers Association.

International Governmental Organization (IGO) Watch sent a letter to Finance Ministers across the G20 urging the officials to oppose any attempts to weaponize global conversations about digital commerce to tax tech companies.

Many thanks to the Australian Taxpayers’ Alliance and Tax and Super Australia, especially to Tim Andrews, for hosting and organizing the 17th World Taxpayers’ Conference & 7th Friedman Conference in Sydney in May 2019.  More than 460 people from over 30 countries attended the conference (including four delegates from South-America) thanks in part to scholarships offered by the National Taxpayers Union, Americans for Tax Reform and Atlas Network.

Dear WTA members, observers and friends:

It is a great privilege to write my first message to you as the new Chairman and President of the World Taxpayers Associations. After a fantastic meeting in Sydney, I take over the role from Troy Lanigan, who you will all know or be aware of.

According to Asociación de Contribuyentes del Perú, the taxpayers in Peru are working 135 days to pay for the income tax, value-added tax, social security contributions and other local taxes.

Income tax and social security contributions declined slightly for the average worker across the OECD in 2018, driven by major reforms in a handful of countries, according to Taxing Wages OECD’s report.

In celebration of World IP day, an international coalition of 77 organizations from 39 countries along with Property Rights Alliance has launched an open letter addressed to the World Intellectual Property Organization’s Director General Dr. Francis Gurry, urging WIPO to double its efforts in advising governments to protect intellectual property rights.

Dear WTA members, observers and friends:
Allow me to open by thanking all of you for the great privilege it has been to serve as chairman of World Taxpayers Associations for the past three years. I have enjoyed all of it – especially the many exchanges of ideas, best practices and comradery shared at regional forums and related events around the world.

Thanks to Taxpayers’ Alliance work, senior staff leaving public sector roles will soon have payouts capped at £95,000.  The Treasury announced that it is implementing the cap on public sector ‘exit payments’. This is a huge victory for the TPA – and it is, of course, good news for taxpayers.