UK 'particularly responsible' for tax evasion
Monday, 12 May 2008 12:00 AM
The UK government is "particularly responsible" for illegal-trade related tax evasion because nearly half the world's tax havens are UK overseas territories, development charity Christian Aid has said.
The charity estimates that 1,000 young people die every day because of the $160 billion lost to third world countries as a result of the problem.
The damning accusation comes after Gordon Brown called on global businesses to do more to help third world countries in a speech in Canary Wharf last week.
The conclusions are based on a year of research by Raymond Barker, a senior fellow at the US Centre for International Policy, and are based on 550 anonymous interviews with heads of trading companies in 11 countries. The vast majority of culprits are companies using false accounting to reduce their tax liability.
The charity is blaming the secrecy offered by more than 70 tax havens for the situation, and is emphasising the role of big accountancy firms in promoting their use.
It is calling on the UK government to take a lead and removing the secrecy of the tax havens, as well as compelling companies to publish their accounts on a country-by-country basis.
"We predict that illegal, trade-related tax evasion alone will be responsible for the deaths of some 5.6m children under the age of five between 2000 and 2015," says director of Christian Aid Daleep Mukarji.
"The abuse is so widespread and damaging that it is tantamount to a new slavery,' said Dr Mukarji. 'The rich are getting richer on the backs of some of the most impoverished and vulnerable communities in the world."
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