tax avoidance

Panama, the Cayman Islands and the Seychelles have rightly been added to the EU tax haven blacklist. However, the list still proves inadequate, said Oxfam today.

The European Parliament is right to call out EU governments for their failure to agree the reforms needed to tackle large-scale tax avoidance, said Oxfam in reaction to a key vote on tax in the European Parliament.

EU finance ministers look set to whitewash nine of the world’s worst tax havens when they update the EU tax haven blacklist next week, says Oxfam.

It’s good to see the Commission continue their crackdown on tax avoidance by Europe’s largest companies, but actual reforms towards more tax transparency are needed, Oxfam said in reaction to a decision by the European Commission that declared illegal a tax deal of Luxembourg with the French company Engie.

The European Council has started to publish the commitments taken by countries to escape the EU blacklist of tax havens. Governments must now pressure all tax havens on the EU's grey list to make their commitments public, and the EU must ensure tax havens implement the reforms they have promised, or else blacklist them.

It is very good news that the European Commission seems ready to finally tackle harmful tax competition inside the European Union, Oxfam said in reaction to a report criticising seven EU member states for their aggressive tax policies. The organisation also welcomed the increased pressure on tax havens greylisted by the EU to make their reform commitments public.

EU finance ministers have decided today to remove eight countries from the EU’s blacklist for tax havens, rushing to take countries off the blacklist without it being clear what they have actually committed to improve.

This report examines the failings of the global tax system that facilitate mass tax avoidance. It looks at one example of a multinational company (MNC) that Oxfam thinks is not paying its fair share. Moreover, it calls on governments and business to implement the reforms that are needed to stop MNCs from avoiding paying their fair share of tax in the future. 

EU governments are unwilling to tackle large-scale tax avoidance of multinational companies, Oxfam says in reaction to a new directive formally approved today.