"It's Time for Companies to Lead the Fight Against Tax Dodging", 24 Nov 2015

Earlier this year, world leaders agreed the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which aim to tackle poverty and deliver opportunity across the globe…Critical to this is tackling corporate tax avoidance, which blights the poorest countries in the world. IMF research estimates that developing countries lose $200 billion a year to big companies dodging tax, leaving key public services like schools and hospitals starved of funding…People like Caroline Muchanga, a stall holder in Zambia who paid more tax than the British owned multinational Zambia Sugar. While she struggled to buy school books for the children, her corporate neighbour used clever tricks and tax havens to reduce its tax bill to near zero. Ensuring a fair taxation system requires government-led reform…[T]he discussion paper 'Getting to Good - Towards Responsible Corporate Tax Behaviour' by ActionAid, Christian Aid and Oxfam aims to assist business leaders to develop a more responsible approach to taxation…[and] offers concrete suggestions as to how firms can act more responsibly…[It] suggests the need for a change of culture within multinationals, towards an acceptance that they can go above and beyond being legally compliant on tax…[Refers to Amazon, Fiat, Starbucks]