PRESS RELEASE: Focus of Paradise Papers turns to public country-by-country reporting as UK tax avoidance petition gathers 50,000 signatures

Tax Justice UK, the country’s leading campaigning organisation dedicated to fighting for a fairer tax system, has launched a petition calling on the Prime Minister to take the action needed to tackle tax avoidance in the wake of the release of the ‘Paradise Papers’. Within just a few hours, the petition has attracted more than 50,000 signatures from UK taxpayers angered at the failure of the government to put an end to the abusive behaviour of multinational companies and wealthy individuals whose efforts to avoid tax have a direct impact on public services. {UPDATE 14/11/2017: NOW at 156,000 signatures and rising!}

​Tonight, the focus turns to tax dodging by large companies, such as Apple, which is reported to have paid an effective corporate tax rate of just 3.7% outside the US in 2017, a fraction of the actual rate in most countries. It did this by shifting $252bn of offshore cash to Jersey in 2015, following a crackdown on its previous ‘double Irish’ arrangement, but not before indulging in some ‘tax haven shopping’ by asking Appleby to recommend which UK-controlled secrecy jurisdiction to move their money to (the British Virgin Islands, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, the Isle of Man, Jersey or Guernsey, with Mauritius as a final option). 

Public country-by-country reporting, whereby multinational companies are required to publish data about their activities, turnover, profits and taxes paid in every country of operation, can put an end to this practice of shifting profits overseas to low-tax, high-secrecy jurisdictions to avoid paying tax. The UK Government has had the power to implement this policy for UK-based companies for more than a year, but has failed to act on it. Now is the time to act. 

Will Snell, Director of Tax Justice UK, said: “The Prime Minister and the Chancellor must act now to tackle tax avoidance. We know what needs to be done, and we have the power to make it happen. The next budget, due in a few weeks, should contain bold measures to stop these practices once and for all. Thousands of UK taxpayers, angry at the government’s failure to clamp down on a practice that deprives ordinary people of adequate public services, are calling on the government to take decisive action now in the public interest.”

ENDS

CONTACT

Will Snell, Tax Justice UK / +44 (0)7928 858882 /  will@taxjustice.uk

NOTES

Tax Justice UK is a campaigning and advocacy organisation that works to promote the role of tax, to advocate for a more progressive tax system, and to campaign against tax avoidance – see http://www.taxjustice.uk

Tax Justice UK has set up a petition calling for the Prime Minister to clamp down on tax avoidance in the UK and its offshore network in the wake of the Paradise Papers, including by mandating public country-by-country reporting for all publicly quoted companies – see https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/clamp-down-on-tax-avoidance-in-the-uk