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Oxfam Names World's Worst Tax Havens Fueling 'Global Race to Bottom'
Published on
Monday, December 12, 2016
Corporate tax dodging is 'propping up a dangerously unequal economic system that is leaving millions of people with few opportunities for a better life'
Corporate tax havens around the world are starving countries of billions of dollars needed to tackle poverty and inequality, according to a new report from Oxfam that identifies the 15 nations and territories leading this "global race to the bottom."
In order of significance, those 15 worst tax havens are: Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Singapore, Ireland, Luxembourg, Curaçao, Hong Kong, Cyprus, Bahamas, Jersey, Barbados, Mauritius, and the British Virgin Islands. They landed on the "world's worst" list because they employ damaging tax policies "such as zero corporate tax rates, the provision of unfair and unproductive tax incentives, and a lack of cooperation with international processes against tax avoidance (including measures to increase financial transparency)," Oxfam says.
In these countries, big businesses are dodging taxes "on an industrial scale," forcing governments to reduce public spending or raise taxes on average citizens in order to make up for lost revenues. According to the non-profit, this level of tax dodging costs poor countries at least $100 billion every year.
In turn, Oxfam warns in its report, Tax Battles (pdf), "the most harm falls on the public, which is faced with the triple impacts of a higher tax burden, declining public goods and services, and having to subsidize corporate profits and private wealth."
...
Corporate tax havens around the world are starving countries of billions of dollars needed to tackle poverty and inequality, according to a new report from Oxfam that identifies the 15 nations and territories leading this "global race to the bottom."
In order of significance, those 15 worst tax havens are: Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Singapore, Ireland, Luxembourg, Curaçao, Hong Kong, Cyprus, Bahamas, Jersey, Barbados, Mauritius, and the British Virgin Islands. They landed on the "world's worst" list because they employ damaging tax policies "such as zero corporate tax rates, the provision of unfair and unproductive tax incentives, and a lack of cooperation with international processes against tax avoidance (including measures to increase financial transparency)," Oxfam says.
In these countries, big businesses are dodging taxes "on an industrial scale," forcing governments to reduce public spending or raise taxes on average citizens in order to make up for lost revenues. According to the non-profit, this level of tax dodging costs poor countries at least $100 billion every year.
In turn, Oxfam warns in its report, Tax Battles (pdf), "the most harm falls on the public, which is faced with the triple impacts of a higher tax burden, declining public goods and services, and having to subsidize corporate profits and private wealth."
...
http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/12/12/oxfam-names-worlds-worst-tax-havens-fueling-global-race-bottom
