Although tax data may not be public, parliamentarians (or those in the fray to be elected) in India must declare their assets at the time of each election.
But then of course, the 'so what' question kicks in. A very critical article in a leading daily newspaper paints a very hopeless picture and speaks of the impunity of elected representatives and the political class despite such obligations being in place. http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/article3700211.ece Best, Prashant On 14 December 2012 09:57, Alexander Kashumov <kashu...@aip-bg.org> wrote: > ** > > Sandy, > > Unfortunately it is in Bulgarian only, but I will ask my colleague Stephan > to make a short summary in English and post it. Of course, it is very far > from what we learn about Sweden. > > Best, > > Sasho > > > > На 2012-12-13 18:07, Sandra Coliver написа: > > Sasho – > > Is there a case in which a court gave its opinion that the tax info > exemption is subject to the public interest override? If yes, could you > send us a link? > > Thanks much, and best, > > Sandy > > > > *From:* foianet-boun...@lists.foiadvocates.info [mailto: > foianet-boun...@lists.foiadvocates.info] *On Behalf Of *Alexander Kashumov > *Sent:* Thursday, December 13, 2012 10:58 AM > *To:* Toby Mendel; Zahid Abdullah > *Cc:* FOI Advocates > *Subject:* Re: [foianet] Parliamentarians Tax Data > > > > > > I agree with the approach of Toby. > > > > Basically according to the EU Data Protection Directive (95/46/EC) taz > information falls under the definition of personal data as seen from the > following: > > Article 2 > > Definitions > > For the purposes of this Directive: > > (a) 'personal data' shall mean any information relating to an identified > or identifiable natural person ('data subject'); an identifiable person is > one who can be identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by > reference to an identification number or to one or more factors specific to > his physical, physiological, mental, *economic*, cultural or social > identity; > > > > This information refers to the persons' economic identity. This is valid > only for physical persons (unless national personal data protection > legislation expands to legal persons as well). The directive is a legal > instrument which bounds member contries to adopt national laws, roughly > speaking, > > Overcoming this protection is possible in cases of public interest. I > don't know however in how many national systems there is developed practice > on such cases. Two years ago Bulgarian courts accepted that tax information > exemption is not absolute and is subject to the overriding public interests > test, but did not specify any cases. > > > > Sasho > > > > Alexander Kashumov, attorney-at-law > Head of Legal Team > Access to Information Programme > 76 Vassil Levski Blvd. Apt.3 > 1142 Sofia, Bulgaria > + 3592 9885062; 9867709 > E-mail: kashu...@aip-bg.org > > ----- Original Message ----- > > *From:*Toby Mendel <t...@law-democracy.org> > > *To:*Zahid Abdullah <za...@cpdi-pakistan.org> > > *Cc:*FOI Advocates <foianet@foiadvocates.info> > > *Sent:* Thursday, December 13, 2012 4:28 PM > > *Subject:* Re: [foianet] Parliamentarians Tax Data > > > > That you have to decide yourself :) > > > > My view is that tax information is clearly private (in Canada, this can > include medical expenditures, sports expenditures, etc.) so you would need > a public interest argument to overcome it and that would probably have to > be limited to certain cases or classes of people (as with officials or > senior officials as Vanja was arguing). > > > > Toby > > > > ___________________________________ > > *Toby Mendel* > > *Executive Director* > > *Centre for Law and Democracy* > > t...@law-democracy.org > > Tel: +1 902 431-3688 > > Fax: +1 902 431-3689 > > www.law-democracy.org > > > > > > > > On 13 Dec 2012, at 21:13, Zahid Abdullah wrote: > > > > Thanks everyone for answering the question. What should be our > position? Should the tax data be made public? What are the pros and cons? > > Zahid > > > > > > *From:* Venkatesh Nayak <venkat...@humanrightsinitiative.org> > > *Sent:* Thursday, December 13, 2012 3:05 AM > > *To:* 'Francesca' <franf...@gmail.com> ; 'Toby Mendel'<t...@law-democracy.org> > > *Cc:* 'FOI Advocates' <foianet@foiadvocates.info> > > *Subject:* Re: [foianet] Parliamentarians Tax Data > > > > Dear all, > > Perhaps Norway is the only country which allowed public disclosure of > taxpayer data for a month in October. Do they still do it? > > Thanks > > Venkat > > *From:* foianet-boun...@lists.foiadvocates.info [ > mailto:foianet-boun...@lists.foiadvocates.info<foianet-boun...@lists.foiadvocates.info> > ] *On Behalf Of *Francesca > *Sent:* Thursday, December 13, 2012 3:26 PM > *To:* Toby Mendel > *Cc:* FOI Advocates > *Subject:* Re: [foianet] Parliamentarians Tax Data > > Hello Toby, Zahid and everyone, > > What happened is quickly said, alas: the Italian Data Protection Agency > stepped in 24 hours after the online publication of the data, following a > flurry of protests, and orderes their removal, arguing it was a breach of > privacy :-/ > > Best regards, > > Francesca > > -- > > Francesca Fanucci > > Lawyer - Consultant on freedom of expression > > Senior Associate at Free Expression Associates (www.foeassociates.com) > > London, UK > > Email: franf...@gmail.com > > Skype account: franfanu > > Fax: 0044 7092872411 > > Linkedin profile: http://uk.linkedin.com/in/francescafanucci > > "In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act" > -- (George Orwell) > > > On 13 Dec 2012, at 08:19, Toby Mendel <t...@law-democracy.org> wrote: > > Same in Canada. And Italy, although apparently the Min. of Finance > released all of the tax records one year in a Rambo move towards openness > which cause a lot of furore, although I am not sure what happened. > > Toby > > ___________________________________ > > *Toby Mendel* > > *Executive Director* > > *Centre for Law and Democracy* > > t...@law-democracy.org > > Tel: +1 902 431-3688 > > Fax: +1 902 431-3689 > > www.law-democracy.org > > > > > > -- > > Francesca Fanucci > > Lawyer - Consultant on freedom of expression > > Senior Associate at Free Expression Associates (www.foeassociates.com) > > London, UK > > Email: franf...@gmail.com > > Skype account: franfanu > > Fax: 0044 7092872411 > > Linkedin profile: http://uk.linkedin.com/in/francescafanucci > > "In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act" > -- (George Orwell) > > > On 13 Dec 2012, at 08:19, Toby Mendel <t...@law-democracy.org> wrote: > > Same in Canada. And Italy, although apparently the Min. of Finance > released all of the tax records one year in a Rambo move towards openness > which cause a lot of furore, although I am not sure what happened. > > Toby > > ___________________________________ > > *Toby Mendel* > > *Executive Director* > > *Centre for Law and Democracy* > > t...@law-democracy.org > > Tel: +1 902 431-3688 > > Fax: +1 902 431-3689 > > www.law-democracy.org > > > > > On 13 Dec 2012, at 03:53, Alexander Kashumov wrote: > > > > > Hi Zahid, > > In Bulgaria tax data of both citizens and officials (including > parliamentarians) are not public. Only data of income and assets of high > ranking officials are public, but tax data definitely not. > > As far as I know, though I might be wrong, everywhere in Europe is the > same with the exception of Sweden and Norway (Denmark left that small > community on that matter few years ago). In Norway I heard there is debate > to stop this openness as well. > > But let other countries speak about their situation themselves! I am also > curious to know whether there are new/other developments. > > Best regards, > > Alexander > > Alexander Kashumov, attorney-at-law > Head of Legal Team > Access to Information Programme > 76 Vassil Levski Blvd. Apt.3 > 1142 Sofia, Bulgaria > + 3592 9885062; 9867709 > E-mail: kashu...@aip-bg.org > > На 2012-12-13 22:01, Zahid Abdullah написа: > > Hi, > > I wonder in how many countries tax data is regarded as public data? In > Pakistan, tax data is not regarded as public data. CPDI and CRIP jointly > carried out studied titled ‘Representation without Taxation’ which was > launched yesterday and which has been largely carried out by local and > international newspapers. It was also topic of different evening television > talk shows here. Following is the link of the story > > Minister, Lawmakers evading tax: Study > > http://dawn.com/2012/12/13/ministers-lawmakers-evading-tax-study/ > > Zahid Abdullah > Program Manager > Centre for Peace and Development Initiatives (CPDI) > House No. 409-B, Main Nazim-ud-Din Road, F-11/1, Islamabad, Pakistan > Phone:+92 51 2108287 (Ext.102), Fax:+92 51 2101594, Cell:+92 333 5214748 > email: za...@cpdi-pakistan.org, website: www.cpdi-pakistan.org; skype: > zahidisd > > > > > >
