From Poverty to Power Green, Oxfam 2008 - weman

FROM POVERTY TO POWERto reduce the pressure for tax competition, or the creation of a WorldTax Authority that could, among other things, help set rules forallocating the profit income of TNCs, assist the internationalexchange of taxation information, and help to protect national taxregimes from predatory practices such as tax competition. 49In 2003, the then President Chirac of France commissioned ahigh-level study of international taxation as a way to raise money fordevelopment. The Landau Commission concluded that a range ofinternational taxes were both feasible and could raise significantsums. 50 They would need to be introduced simultaneously by allmajor financial centres, to avoid creating a new generation of taxhavens, but the Commission did not see this as an insuperable obstacle.Moreover, such flows would be more stable and predictable than aidthat has to be negotiated every year or two. The options discussedincluded:Environmental taxes: these include taxes on carbon, or sectors notcurrently covered by the Kyoto Protocol, such as maritime and airtransport. Environmental taxes have a double benefit of curbinggreenhouse gas emissions and raising funds for development. TheClimate Change Adaptation Fund discussed on page 410 is an example.Taxes on financial transactions, such as foreign exchange transactions.Sometimes known as a ‘Tobin tax’ 51 , these would impose a very smalltax on the huge daily volumes of financial transactions, which wouldraise significant sums without significantly interfering with the workingsof capital markets.A surtax on the profits of TNCs as a ‘normal counterpart to thebenefits they derive from globalisation’.A tax on arms sales, whether domestic or international.In July 2006 France went a step further and introduced a small‘solidarity contribution’ on airline tickets, the proceeds of which weredestined for buying supplies of drugs to treat HIV, malaria, and TB inthe poorest countries.The anarchy and volatility of international finance constitute amajor threat to the livelihoods of poor communities, and are a criticalmissing piece in the architecture of global governance. Bringing somesort of order will require both international efforts and more assertive316