
Christian Aid welcomes Ed Miliband’s determination to tackle the tax havens which are harming UK public finances but it urges him to go further, because financial secrecy is a curse for poor countries too.
‘It’s great that Mr Miliband has recognised that tax haven secrecy is damaging people in the UK, by providing a cover for people and companies to hide their wealth and avoid paying the taxes that are so urgently needed,’ said Dr David McNair, Christian Aid’s Principal Adviser on Economic Justice.
Last week Christian Aid welcomed the G20′s bold pronouncements on tax havens, financial transparency and development. President Sarkozy went as far as to say that havens that didn’t comply would be excluded from the international community. A whole programme of work on tax and development was agreed.
Our scorecard compares the recommendations made, with what the G20 actually delivered. The scores that we attribute to the G20 simply evaluate their response to that expert opinion.
LONDON – Significant international pressure from an increasing number of policy makers is steadily mounting against the secrecy offered by tax havens, says Christian Aid following the G20 in Cannes.
While the Eurocrisis took centre stage at the summit, a series of important developments in the campaign for tax justice that emerged at the same time went largely unremarked.
LONDON – New European plans to reveal more about multinationals’ finances will help tackle corruption in the oil, gas and mining industries – but need toughening up if they are also to help poor countries fight multi-billion pound tax dodging, says Christian Aid.
PARIS – Investors who want to ensure their money supports ethical concerns should add tax behaviour to the criteria by which companies are judged, Christian Aid says today.
LONDON – Policy makers are failing to live up to the pledges of the world’s most powerful nations to tackle tax haven secrecy, according to the latest findings of an index that analyses the contribution different jurisdictions make to this global threat.
WASHINGTON – G20 ministers’ latest plan to help poor countries misses an opportunity to drive massive change because it neglects action against tax dodgers, says Christian Aid.
WASHINGTON – The world’s most powerful countries may be about to renege on their pledges to help developing nations fight massive tax dodging by multinationals, Christian Aid is warning.
LONDON – The new tax deal between the UK and Switzerland amounts to collusion with criminality and will seriously damage poor countries’ attempts to collect the billions they lose to tax dodgers, Christian Aid is warning.
LONDON – Ministers should urgently rethink plans for a deal with Switzerland which would see UK tax evaders let off lightly while harming poor countries, says Christian Aid.
LONDON – The UK government’s decision to back a ‘publish-what-you-pay’ standard for mining and other ‘extractive’ companies across the world is an exciting and welcome move which will challenge corruption in the oil, mining and gas sectors but does not go far enough to tackle the massive damage done by tax dodging and financial secrecy, Christian Aid says today.
LONDON—Christian Aid is calling on the winner of this Sunday’s general election in Tanzania to commit to ending tax anomalies that have deprived a country rich in mineral resources of badly needed revenue that could have been spent on schools, hospitals and other infrastructure improvements.