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CAMPAIGNS WHY WE MUST TAKE ON THE TAX DODGERS Tackling tax dodging is a critical element of the ENOUGH FOOD FOR EVERYONE IF campaign. Christian Aid’s head of media, Andrew Hogg, explains why tax matters so much to the developing world A NEW REPORT FROM <strong>CHRISTIAN</strong> <strong>AID</strong> highlights how tax injustice deprives countries in the developing world of revenue that could be used to fight malnutrition. The research underlines the importance of the IF campaign, which calls for an end to the ease with which multinationals can dodge tax in the developing world, as well as demanding greater transparency about transactions that could have a harmful impact on food security. The report, Who pays the price? Hunger: the hidden cost of tax injustice, looks at three countries now classified as middle income – India, Ghana and El Salvador. Although the economies of each have improved in recent years, inequality has also grown and hunger remains entrenched. India’s gross national income (GNI) per capita doubled between 1995 and 2010, but 41 per cent of the 1.2 billion population live on less than US$1.25 a day. As a result, some 217 million people are undernourished, while a shocking 47 per cent of all children are stunted through malnutrition. Despite Ghana’s recent economic success, 30 per cent of its people still live on less than US$1.25 a day. Among a population of 25 million, 1 million are hungry, and nearly 30 per cent of children under five are stunted due to malnutrition. In El Salvador, the GNI per capita is almost US$6,600, yet a recent government survey shows that 47.5 per cent of the population live in poverty. One in eight people go hungry, and one child in four is stunted. Our report shows how an end to tax dodging could help all three countries raise revenue to combat hunger. In India, it is estimated that between 1948 and 2008, some US$462bn was lost through illicit capital flight and tax dodging by wealthy individuals, multinationals and other businesses trading across borders. The government believes a further US$99bn was lost in 2011-12 alone, through generous tax exemptions enjoyed by businesses and individuals. In Ghana, it is estimated that some US$700m per annum is lost to the economy through VAT and import exemptions. Low mining royalties meant some US$68m a year was lost between 1990 and 2007, while multinationals artificially lowering their tax liability accounted for the loss of some US$83.6m in 2008 alone. In El Salvador, tax evasion and corporate tax incentives are together thought to cost the country more than US$2.9bn every year. In addition to listing a number of tax reforms that could dramatically improve the lives of the poor in all three countries, Who pays the price? also shows that multinationals with subsidiaries in tax havens pay 28.9 per cent less taxes as a percentage of profits than those without such links. Elsewhere, it looks at the role that one tax haven, Switzerland, plays in helping multinationals shift profits and dodge taxes. Developing countries may have lost tax revenues on as much as US$578bn in capital from 2007 to 2010 from corporations trading with or via Switzerland POLL BACKS IF AS THE ENOUGH FOOD FOR EVERYONE IF campaign ramps up its actions ahead of the G8 summit in June, a new poll shows massive support from the British public for the campaign’s aims. A ComRes survey, commissioned by Christian Aid, found that an overwhelming 85 per cent want global leaders to stop multinationals from abusing the tax system. Three-quarters of those surveyed (77 per cent) believe that David Cameron is right to make tackling tax evasion and avoidance a priority, while 63 per cent agree that strong action on tax avoidance and evasion at the G8 could help lift millions of people out of poverty around the world. There is also public concern that the UK government needs to do what it reasonably can about the impact of multinationals on the rest of the world. Almost three-quarters (72 per cent) of Britons agree the government has a 14 Christian Aid News
‘IT IS IN SHARING THAT WE DO THE WORKS OF GOD’ This timely reflection by Rev Jacob Wandusim, a minister with the Presbyterian Church in Ghana, explores our moral responsibility to act against global hunger CAMPAIGN TAX CALL responsibility to ensure that UK-based companies pay the proper amount of tax in every country in which they operate, and eight out of 10 people (84 per cent) want to see multinationals’ accounts more transparent and publicly available. ‘People understand the importance of developing countries being able to collect tax that is owed to them by multinational corporations. Tax is a powerful weapon against poverty and three-quarters of Britons agree that if developing countries could collect more tax then they would, in time, be less dependent on international aid, and therefore better able to provide for their own people,’ says Joseph Stead, Christian Aid’s senior economic justice adviser. The poll also suggests that millions of Britons are using their consumer power to show their anger towards multinationals that are seen to be avoiding their fair share of UK tax. A third of those surveyed are currently boycotting the products or services of a company because it does not pay its fair share of tax in the UK, while almost half (45 per cent) said they are considering a boycott. Two out of three Britons (66 per cent) now believe tax avoidance to be morally wrong, according to this latest survey – up 10 percentage points on a previous poll conducted six months ago. Meanwhile, a remarkable four out of five respondents (80 per cent) are angered by multinationals’ use of tax avoidance, with 85 per cent saying that it is currently too easy for companies to avoid tax. ‘This survey also shows that one in three Britons are actually prepared to change their buying habits and boycott some of the firms seen as not paying their fair share in the UK. This surely must be a wake-up call to all businesses,’ adds Joseph. THE BIBLE TEACHES Christians to be supportive of each other, not only other Christians but any person living in our community. Despite the type of family you come from, the region, the country, the colour, the creed, we are all one and we need to be supported. It is in sharing that we do the works of God. Jesus shared his life with us, and it is in sharing that we can make the Gospel complete. Tax is something which every country or every society or group of people needs in order to support those who don’t have. If we say everyone should live on his own, then the rich will survive and the poorer and the weaker will die. Governments and societies institute taxes to be used for the wider interests of the community. As members of the church, we are also citizens of the country we belong to and so we should be contributing towards the general welfare of everybody and not just ourselves. It will show that we are prepared to share whatever we have with others because Christ has shared his life with us. If Jesus saw that there was something wrong, he told them why and corrected it. So if you can tell the international companies that it is wrong to dodge these taxes and therefore bring the money back so the wider community can benefit from it, I think that it would be a wonderful idea. The gospel message started small, but in due course it bloomed up into a shrub, and birds could nest on it. However small or slow the beginning of this campaign may be, I believe that one day it will grow so that many birds – many countries – will benefit from it. Christian Aid News 15
Page 1: CHRISTIAN AID NEWS Issue 59 Spring
Page 4 and 5: THE BIG PICTURE 4 Christian Aid New
Page 6 and 7: NEWS LEBANON From left to right: a
Page 8 and 9: MALI NEWS RISING REFUGEE TOLL CONTI
Page 10 and 11: NEWS IT’S TIME TO BITE BACK AT HU
Page 12 and 13: CAMPAIGNS The IF campaign lit up Lo
Page 16 and 17: LIFE AND SOUL SPECIAL CHRISTIAN AID
Page 18 and 19: CHRISTIAN AID WEEK CHRISTIAN AID WE
Page 20 and 21: FRONTLINE Stories from around the w
Page 22 and 23: INPUT Inspired? Enraged? Send your
Page 24 and 25: LIFE AND SOUL The way we lead our o
Page 26 and 27: EVENTS We work with some of the wor
Page 28: LAST WORD A reflection on playing a

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