Tax Dodgers "Could end extreme poverty twice"
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Tax Dodgers "Could end extreme poverty twice"
Tax Dodgers 'Could End Extreme Poverty Twice'
As David Cameron begins an EU offensive on tax avoidance,
Oxfam accuses the Government of hypocrisy in its approach.
8:11am UK,
Wednesday 22 May 2013
More than one billion people are believed to live in
extreme poverty
As David Cameron begins an EU offensive on tax avoidance,
Oxfam accuses the Government of hypocrisy in its approach.
8:11am UK,
Wednesday 22 May 2013
More than one billion people are believed to live in
extreme poverty
People who avoid paying tax by stashing their money in tax havens
could have contributed enough to end extreme poverty across the world twice
over, a charity has said.
Oxfam
calculated that individuals, rather than companies, have deprived government of
£100bn in revenue.
It also accused the Government of failing to tackle the issue of UK tax
havens, while talking tough about corporate tax avoidance.
David Cameron will push for tax reforms when
he meets EU leaders
Multi-national firms including Apple, Amazon and Starbucks have come under
fire over the amount of tax they have paid, despite making massive profits.
Prime Minister David Cameron is expected to call for reforms of the global
tax system at an EU summit in Brussels on Wednesday.
In a letter to his EU counterparts, Mr Cameron urged European governments to
join forces to act against "staggering" losses from tax evasion and "aggressive
avoidance" by adopting a US system of cross-border tax information exchange.
The UK, Germany, France, Spain and Italy are already jointly testing such a
system and intend to implement it by the end of this year.
Two days ago the Prime Minister also wrote to UK overseas territories and
crown dependencies telling them he expected them to take action on tax
transparency.
Oxfam claimed that more than a third of the £12 trillion held in tax havens
by individuals around the globe is believed to be in British Overseas
Territories and Crown Dependencies.
Emma Seery, Oxfam's head of development finance and public services, said:
"These figures put the UK at the centre of a global tax system that is a
colossal betrayal of people here and in the poorest countries who are struggling
to get by, and put the Government on the side of the privileged few.
"If they want to get on the right side of this debate, now is the time to
take action.
"Britain's credibility is on the line; talking tough on tax, whilst
continuing to usher a third of the world's wealth into UK tax havens, risks
making a mockery of David Cameron's leadership at the G8 Summit in
June."
Oxfam is urging action over crown dependencies
such as the Isle of Man
Oxfam called for a blacklist of tax havens and agreement that EU member
states will impose sanctions against tax havens and those using them to try and
tackle evasion.
Ms Seery added: "The UK and Europe cannot stand by and watch more people fall
victim to the bite of austerity whilst billions is lost from the public purse on
their watch.
"Unless the EU agrees a tax havens black list and clear sanctions, we'll get
little more than hot air from leaders."
Oxfam is part of the Enough Food for Everyone IF campaign, which is
calling on the G8 to make all tax havens join a multilateral agreement to share
tax information to end the secrecy of tax havens.
More than one billion people are believed to live on less than $1.25 a day,
the definition of extreme poverty used by the World Bank and other international
organisations.
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