January 22, 2024

UN Tax Reform offers hope to Low Income Countries

In late November 2023, developing countries at the UN won a historic vote to set up a tax convention in spite of resistance from rich countries. This Guardian editorial (see below) explains how poor nations’ ability to feed, educate and provide healthcare to their people is hobbled by illicit and hidden movements of capital worth billions each year. The Tax Justice Network (also below) documents how countries around the world are losing US$480bn in tax a year to tax abuse, with two-thirds lost to multinational corporations shifting profit into tax havens, and a third lost to offshore hidden wealth. Lower-income countries, which historically have had little to no say on global tax rules, disproportionately suffer. Rich nations lose the equivalent of 9% of their public health budgets to tax abuse, whereas poorer countries see half their public health budgets disappear. This new convention offers hope in the struggle for a fairer and less corrupt system of global taxation.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/dec/20/the-guardian-view-on-a-un-treaty-stop-rich-nations-acting-like-the-tax-havens-they-condemn

https://edition.cnn.com/2023/07/25/economy/global-tax-loss-haven-revenue/index.html