Tax has received a lot of media attention this month, with the leaking of the “Panama Papers” causing an uproar which climaxed with Iceland’s prime minister stepping aside for “an unspecified amount of time.” In economies struggling with a tight fiscal climate and austerity measures, the public are outraged that their politicians and elites could potentially be avoiding paying their taxes.

The “Panama Papers” consist of internal documents from Mossack Fonseca, a Panama-based law firm, anonymously leaked to Germany’s Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper. Among the leaked documents are details of an offshore fund co-founded by the UK Prime Minister David Cameron’s late father, in which the prime minister also previously owned shares.

IZA World of Labor author James Alm states an important distinction in his article on tax evasion, labor market effects, and income distribution. He writes that “[individuals] can take a variety of actions to reduce their tax liabilities.” Some are legal “tax avoidance” measures—and although questions as to their morality definitely remain, funds like those detailed in the Panama Papers coverage do appear to fall under this banner—whilst “tax evasion,” on the other hand, refers to intentional actions taken by individuals or firms to illegally reduce their tax obligations.

Since the "Panama Papers" revelations, the prime minister has announced a new law to make companies criminally liable if their employees aid tax evasion. He stated that: “This government has done more than any other to take action against corruption in all its forms, but we will go further. That is why we will legislate this year to hold companies who fail to stop their employees facilitating tax evasion criminally liable.”

Alm also notes that: “Designing appropriate tax policies requires understanding the impact of tax evasion and its true effects on income distribution.”

Please visit the website for more evidence-based articles on tax and redistribution policies. 

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• Donald Trump threatened to cut off remittance payments from Mexican migrants in the US, in order to coerce Mexico to fund a border wall. Find out more.
• A new report aims to bridge the gap between businesses and migration, and addresses private sector involvement in the migration issue. Learn more.

• What are the effects of entering adulthood during a recession? by Lisa Dettling
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Visit the IZA World of Labor site for more concise, informative, evidence-based articles across the spectrum of labor economics.

• Disability and labor market outcomes: Identifying the reasons for disability's substantial and enduring employment disadvantage is critical to determine effective policy solutions that reduce its social and economic costs.
• The rise and fall of piecework: Incidence of piecework (pament for pieces of  work completed rather than time spent in the workplace) has significantly reduced in advanced industrialized economies. Has its decline gone too far?
• Female-led ventures contribute substantially to the entrepreneur's economic welfare, local and national economic development. Individual and environmental factors can lead women to start innovative ventures—or block them.
• The theory that women are more risk averse than men has been used to explain important labor market phenomena, however this belief is stronger than the evidence supporting it. Are there gender differences in risk attitudes after all?

• Call for papers: COunterfactual Methods for Policy Impact Evaluation (COMPIE 2016). The aim of the conference is to bring together policy makers and researchers to discuss developments in counterfactual methods applied to the impact evaluation of policy interventions, with a focus on EU employment and social policies. Paper submissions: from April 1 to May 30, 2016.
• Society of Labor Economists 21st Annual Meeting, 6-7 May, Seattle, USA. The annual meeting of the Society of Labor Economists (SOLE) attracts more than 300 economists from academic, government, and private sectors. The deadline for early registration at reduced rate is 15 April, and the preliminary program is now online.
• 19th IZA European Summer School in Labor Economics, 23-24 May, Buch/Ammersee, Germany. The objective of the Summer School is to bring together a large number of PhD students and senior lecturers to study new areas in labor economics. Students have the opportunity to present their work and discuss ideas with established researchers in a relaxed and open atmosphere.
• 13th Annual Migration Meeting (AM²), 27-28 May, Bonn, Germany. For more than a decade the IZA Annual Migration Meeting (AM²) has provided a unique environment in which to present innovative research and exchange ideas with renowned speakers, veterans in the field and junior scholars. 
• OECD Forum 2016, 31 May - 1 June, Paris, France. This year's theme is "Productive Economies, Inclusive Societies." This public event brings together ministers, business, labor, civil society and academia to share policies and ideas.