Tax Justice

1. Tax Justice Debt and Development Coalition Ireland ICTU Global Solidarity Summer School

2. Debt and Development Coalition Ireland • National network • Solidarity based with activists and social movements in the Global South • Focus on financial exploitation of the Global South: South-North resource flows • Debt, role of international financial institutions (World Bank; IMF) and tax justice

3. A Myraid of Crises for Global South • Pre- existing poverty levels – not on target to meet MDGs • External Debt $3 trillion ($100m payments per day) • Financial crisis: reduction in remittances (Kenya: 5% GDP, fall in ‘08 by 33%); growing unemployment (up by at least 40m in ‘09 GS); $2 trillion financial shortfall in Global South; 30% drop in exports.

4. A Myraid of Crises for Global South • Food Crisis: FAO: 100m more people in chronic hunger in 2009. • Climate crisis: Approx 26 million people displaced already; 375 million people may be affected by climate disasters by 2015; 200 million people may be displaced each year by 2050; major cities dependent on water from mountain ranges face collapse • A new debt crisis: Countries such as Zambia already facing unsustainable debts

5. ‘Tax Consensus’ • ‘Tax Consensus’ – tax competition as approach to national ec devmt and corporate business models • Low tax regimes by govmt & ‘tax minimisation’ • Strongly supported by World Bank and IMF in Global South • Increasing role of tax havens: $7 trillion stashed in tax havens

6. Why Tax Justice? The scale of tax dodging • At least $160 billion every year lost to Southern countries due to tax evasion. • Significantly greater than all the aid received by South from North. • $160 Bn Could save 350,000 children’s lives

7. Tax Dodging: How does it work? • Transfer pricing – companies exaggerate costs and minimise profits • 60% of international trade takes place within TNCs • Profits are transferred to holding companies based in tax havens

8. Tax havens • Allow non-residents to open bank accounts • No disclosure of information to other countries • Cayman Islands – 5th largest banking centre - $2 trillion • Also Switzerland, Isle of Man, Jersey – and Ireland

9. Tax and Development • Strong tax base essential if countries are to build stronger democratic states: • Rltns bwtn gvmt & citizens, and real exit strategies from aid dependency. • Direct taxation and corporate taxation NB.

10. Moving up the Agenda: Financial Crisis & Tax Havens • Banks and hedge funds engaging in risky practices used tax havens. • Losses and liabilities hidden off balance sheet • G20 / Obama raising questions about tax havens; OECD ‘concern’; race to sign info exchange agreements

11. Demands for change • End to banking secrecy – automatic exchange of information • Control over accountancy firms – end to self-regulation • Country-by-country reporting for TNCs

12. Campaign for Tax Justice • Debt and Development Coalition Ireland & wider tax justice network • We need trade union support in Ireland! • nessa@debtireland.org; 01 6174835; www.debtireland.org