Process of pragmatic inquiry & consensus building on corporate & govt. responsibilities in taxation needed for informed public debate, analyst says
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Article
26 November 2013
A constructive proposal on tax
Author: Maya Forstater, on Hiya Maya
Conflating ordinary business practice with aggressive tax avoidance does not help us to understand...where the problems are or how best to respond to them. What we need is a...informed, non-partisan analysis of the issues and data...My constructive proposal is that we need a...process of principled, pragmatic, fact-based enquiry and consensus building on the matter of corporate and government responsibilities in taxation. The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute...has...creat[ed] a Task Force on Illicit Financial Flows, Poverty and Human Rights...Their first report is thoughtful, and was carried out in the spirit of the Ruggie mandate...But their analysis doesn’t get much beyond a balanced but inconclusive reporting of divergent opinions...They don’t...come up with a strong definition...of what is tax abuse...Part of the problem...is that the human rights lens is not in itself useful for untangling the tax debates...I would love to see a follow up to the IBARHI report which involves...tax advisors, companies and tax campaigners, together with economists and human rights lawyers working together...to find common ground of concepts and data which would enable a more informed public debate.[refers to Twitter, Starbucks, Amazon, Vodafone, Verizon, Barclays, HSBC]
Article
24 January 2013
Tax avoidance - an introduction
Author: compiled by Business & Human Rights Resource Centre
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Bar Association Human Rights Institute's report addresses tax abuse from poverty & human rights law perspectives Italy: Dolce & Gabbana founders sentenced to prison & heavy fine for tax evasion over sale of company that avoided tax on royalties; designers to appeal ruling Liberian government takes Lonestar to court alleging company liable for $19mil in taxes Mexico: Seven multinational companies investigated over allegedly avoiding paying taxes NGOs call on UK Govt. to increase transparency of company ownership to fight tax avoidance & ensure govts. can provide essential public services OECD releases new single global standard on automatic exchange of financial account information to tackle tax avoidance OECD releases set of actions to modernise intl. tax system & crackdown on corporate tax avoidance Parliamentarian says "illicit transfers" by corporations denying Tanzanians chance to improve infrastructure, education & health services Process of pragmatic inquiry & consensus building on corporate & govt. responsibilities in taxation needed for informed public debate, analyst says Report accuses Energias de Portugal (EDP) of tax avoidance through investments in Netherlands Save the Children report calls on govts. & businesses to tackle tax evasion to prevent child mortality Study says 26 companies paid more to CEOs than they did in US taxes Tax Justice: A Human Rights Issue? [Johannesburg, 21 Nov] UK court exposes attempt to avoid tax on intl. ports business by Dubai-owned DP World UK Govt. reportedly ready to back plans to force all European companies to reveal where they pay tax UK Govt. to exclude companies found guilty of aggressive tax avoidance from bidding for major govt. contracts UK Govt. to make public registry of company owners to combat corporate tax avoidance, following NGOs' campaign UK, Germany & France call on G20 to curb tax avoidance by companies UK: Barclays closes controversial tax avoidance unit UK: Chair of Public Accounts Committee says new tax laws too heavily influenced by large corporations & accountancy firms UK: Google called back to parliament to answer tax questions after investigation challenges some of its previous evidence; company denies claims UK: Google CEO defends company's tax affairs; firm was accused of "immorally" minimising tax obligations by Public Accounts Committee UK: House of Lords sub-committee says proposed tax avoidance legislation is "narrowly defined" & calls to accelerate OECD review of multinationals' taxation UK: Independent booksellers deliver petition with 150,000 signatures asking Prime Minister to make Amazon pay corporation tax UK: Labour would stop "scandalous" company tax avoidance, says party leader Ed Miliband UK: MPs ready to "haul Amazon back to parliament" for questions after investigation suggests it is "pushing the tax rulebook to its limits" - includes company comments UK: One third of Britons polled boycott companies due to tax avoidance, says Christian Aid UK: Public Accounts Committee says Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG & PWC are using knowledge gained from staff seconded to the Treasury to help clients avoid tax UK: Starbucks pays £5 million in corporation tax following pressure from tax avoidance campaigners UK: Wonga accused of attempting to avoid tax by shifting part of business to Switzerland; payday lender denies claims US companies accused of having many subsidiaries in Ireland to benefit from lower tax rate than US USA: Apple under scrutiny for tax avoidance; change in tax system & customer attitudes may be needed to curtail practice, says commentary USA: Google goes to court to claim tax back, despite being under scrutiny for tax avoidance USA: Senators accuse Apple of "highly questionable" billion-dollar tax avoidance scheme - includes company comments Show moreShow less