Huge majority of public call for new laws to clamp down on tax havens – Pan-European poll

Eight of ten Europeans say laws need to change to clamp down on the use of tax havens, a poll published on Tuesday shows. Over half of all respondents also say that tax avoidance of large companies drains funding for services such as education and health care in poor countries, This new poll, produced by a leading European polling agency for a group of 24 NGOs including Oxfam and ActionAid, is released ahead of the vote at the European Parliament on Wednesday to approve or reject the recommendations of its Special Committee on Tax Rulings (TAXE), a crucial step to close abusive tax loopholes.

The poll also reveals widespread public concern about corporate tax avoidance harming developing countries – 56 per cent of respondents are convinced poor countries would have more money to fight extreme inequality if the global tax system forced large companies to pay their fair share. A recent UNCTAD report  estimated that developing countries may lose more than $100 billion a year due to corporate tax avoidance. This money is vital, and could be used to tackle poverty; finance education and healthcare.

Oxfam and ActionAid are calling on all EU Members States to commit to further tough actions to tackle tax avoidance by multinational companies and take into account the European Parliament vote on Wednesday. The EU has an even higher responsibility in leading by example now that the OECD/G20 initiative to reform the global tax system (BEPS) has been approved. This project is ambitious, but it has delivered insufficient changes to the real problems that would benefit citizens from all around the world, and especially from developing countries. Without a second generation of tax reforms, poor countries will continue to be the biggest losers of weak regulation that pander to big corporations.

Oxfam’s EU Policy Advisor on Inequality and Taxation, Aurore Chardonnet, said:

“Citizens across the EU share our call for ending corporate tax abuses. It is time for the EU to take bold action against tax havens. A first step would be adopting clear rules to ensure the public knows where companies generate profit and where they pay their taxes. This is why we need public country-by-country reporting, as it is known. This would force multinationals to publish this information and shed light on aggressive tax planning. EU Member States must adopt these rules to contribute to a fairer global tax system that works for all.”

ActionAid EU Tax Advocacy Officer, Kasia Szeniawska, said:

“If the scourge of global poverty is to be tackled bold action is needed to end corporate tax secrecy, renegotiate unfair tax treaties and ensure that multinationals pay their fair share of tax wherever they operate. Ending corporate tax dodging could reduce poverty and help deliver education and healthcare for all.”

Key findings from the pan-European poll:

• Stronger rules are needed to clamp down on tax havens: 77 per cent of people agreed that the law needs to change so that companies and wealthy individuals cannot use tax havens – i.e. places with low or very low tax rates – to reduce the amount of tax they pay in this country. Among those polled over 55 years of age, that figure rises to 85 per cent.
• Corporate tax avoidance impacts on developing countries: over half of all people across Europe (56 per cent) think poorer countries would have more money to fight poverty if we changed the global rules on tax.
• In addition 54 per cent agreed that public services like schools and hospitals in poor countries suffer due to the tax arrangements of large international companies.