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Article

19 Jan 2016

Author:
Larry Elliott, Guardian (UK)

Oxfam report calls for crackdown on tax dodging & higher wages for low-paid workers

"Richest 62 people as wealthy as half of world's population, says Oxfam", 18 Jan 2016

The…growing gap between rich and poor has been laid bare in a new Oxfam report …Timed to coincide with this week’s…annual World Economic Forum in Davos, the report calls for urgent action to deal with a trend showing that 1% of people own more wealth than the other 99% combined…Oxfam said a three-pronged approach was needed: a crackdown on tax dodging; higher investment in public services; and higher wages for the low paid. It said a priority should be to close down tax havens, increasingly used by rich individuals and companies to avoid paying tax…[Oxfam GB chief executive] Goldring said: “We need to end the era of tax havens which has allowed rich individuals and multinational companies to avoid their responsibilities to society by hiding ever increasing amounts of money offshore."...Oxfam cited estimates that rich individuals have placed a total of $7.6tn in offshore accounts, adding that if tax were paid…an extra $190bn would be available to governments every year…Oxfam…estimated that tax dodging by multinational corporations costs developing countries at least $100bn every year…

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