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#TLTaxCon19 Spotlight: Meet Jimmy Sexton

 

#TLTaxCon19 Spotlight: Meet Jimmy Sexton

Jimmy Sexton will be one of the speakers at Taxlinked’s Beyond Borders conference, which will take place in Barcelona on October 13-16, 2019. Book you early bird ticket HERE before they run out!

Taxlinked (TL): How did you get into your practice field?

Jimmy Sexton (JS): I grew up between California, Germany, and Austria, and my family traveled quite a bit so I was international from a young age. Having been exposed to so much of the world at such a young age, I knew whatever I did professionally would have to be international. That, coupled with my love of solving problems, fascination with international business, and capitalist beliefs, made international tax a perfect fit. Plus, I feel that government greed has gotten out of hand. While some taxes are necessary to maintain a civilized society, the current levels of taxation in most developed countries are draconian. All this nonsense about a social responsibility to take care of other people and income inequality is just ridiculous. There is supposed to be inequality. I enjoy helping businesses and wealthy keep what they worked so hard to earn.

TL: What do you consider your greatest professional achievement so far?

JS: Changing the laws of a country.

TL: The US as a global tax haven is a hot topic. Is there anything in particular about this topic that interests you?

JS: This is a quite interesting phenomenon that fascinates me. First, I don’t like referring to countries as tax havens because it is nothing more than shaming by high-tax countries. What there are, are tax competitive countries, and tax competition is quite healthy. If it weren’t for tax competition, governments would take all your money. What is so fascinating about the situation with the US is that usually the tax competitive nations are small and can’t defend themselves against pressure and attacks to change their laws from high-tax countries. This isn’t the case with the US. The US has cornered the market on tax competitiveness and privacy and there isn’t anything anybody can do about it. Even the EU is scared to put the US on its blacklist, or even its grey-list. This has completely disrupted world order and sparked a race to the bottom amongst developed countries to attract businesses and the wealthy. This was such a gangster move by the US and I love it; it highlights the hypocrisy of the EU and OECD who only pick on smaller weaker nations.

TL: Are there any questions you would like to ask your fellow conference attendees during the event in Barcelona?

JS: I would like to ask them why most of them don’t speak out against some of the initiatives put forth by the EU and organizations like the OECD. They have become enemies of business and most professionals don’t speak out. If more professionals and the organizations that represent them spoke out, there would be a better chance at thwarting some of this ridiculous legislation. Professionals need to get together and speak out cohesively against ineffective laws passed by people who have never worked in the real world and who know nothing about business that negatively impact our professions. 

TL: What specific issues regarding the GDPR and beneficial ownership registers are you planning on discussing during the live event? Are there any particular aspects you are hoping to analyse further?

JS: I will discuss their legality under international human rights law. More specifically, whether the public has a legitimate interest in the information contained in the registers, which I contend they do not.

TL: Are there any other hot topics you would like Taxlinked to address in a future conference?

JS: Yes, I think there should be a topic on the actual effectiveness of AEOI and transparency compared to the burden it places on businesses. From what I have read, all AEOI and transparency initiatives have proven is that over 99% of business is completely legitimate. This hardly justifies the burden placed on businesses in my view, and I think most professionals in this industry would agree. This is a group for tax professionals, after all.

TL: Tell us an interesting fact about yourself – it could be anything you want to share with the community!

JS: I’m a pilot. 

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