Vote for Most Artful Tax Dodger!
What do a supermarket giant, an international accountancy firm and a controversial media mogul all have in common? They are all fugitives from Tax Justice, who have dodged paying their fair share towards healthcare, education and other governmental services. Take action online now!
The world’s super-rich have set themselves apart from the rest of society and have created a vast offshore economy from where they, and powerful corporations, can disengage from regulation and taxes, leaving the rest of us to pay the bills.
Since financial market deregulation in the 1970s, the number of tax havens has more than trebled. The scale of this scandal is mind-boggling. Conservative estimates suggest that the world’s wealthiest individuals dodge over $250 billion each year in tax through $11,500 billion parked in offshore accounts. That alone far exceeds what the UN asked for in its Millennium project to tackle global poverty.
But that is just part of the picture: tax dodging by corporations is much bigger. Commercial tax evasion accounts for $700 - $1,1000 billion of global cross-border flows every year. Furthermore, corporate tax rates have been falling everywhere.
It’s time to take action and speak out against these tax dodgers.
Take action online right now!
New Internationalist has compiled a shortlist of artful tax dodgers. But who do you think is the dodgiest dodger? Vote online for who you think should win the Most Artful Tax Dodger Award.
Further Reading
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The supermarket giant which has set up a network of ‘offshore’ schemes to reduce its tax liabilities,with one such scheme alone said to be accumulating $100 million a year free of corporation tax?
The media mogul whose British holding company paid no corporation tax at all for over ten years, despite accumulated profits of $2.8 billion?
The anti-poverty campaigner and singer who moved his royalty income to the Netherlands to be ‘tax efficient’?
The international accountancy firm which in 2005 admitted criminal tax fraud and agreed to pay $456 million in penalties?