This week’s research (Netherlands and UK are biggest channels for corporate tax avoidance, 26 July) is a welcome insight into the ways companies can legally use tax havens to lower their tax bills. While the EU is denied up to £158bn each year through multinationals’ use of tax havens, it is the world’s poorest countries that disproportionately lose out from tax avoidance. When companies lower their tax bills, particularly in developing countries, governments have less money for schools and hospitals – and poor people end up paying from their own pockets.
Even some companies agree that governments need to bring in tougher measures. British multinational RB (formerly Reckitt Benckiser) – maker of products like Vanish and Dettol – recently backed Oxfam’s campaign for stronger tax transparency rules. The UK government has a particular responsibility to promote tax transparency and crack down on tax avoidance, since UK-linked tax havens are frequently used and much of the money flows through the country. Britain should enforce public reporting so that companies pay taxes in line with their economic activity in every country where they operate, not where they can get away with a smaller bill.
Ana Arendar
Head of inequality, Oxfam GB
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