corporate tax dodging

The General Court of the European Union ruled this morning (Wednesday 15 July 2020) that the European Commission was incorrect in its decision that 13 billion Euros in unpaid taxes by Apple constituted illegal state aid from the Irish government.

The coronavirus pandemic is a crisis for everyone. All around us people are affected — our loved ones, our neighbours, our colleagues, our communities. 

The Mauritius Leaks show that tax havens continue not only to exist but to prosper, despite government promises to rein in tax dodging. This briefing lists five steps governments can take to tackle tax avoidance, and end the era of tax havens and the race to the bottom on corporate taxation.

European Union finance ministers have removed the British territory of Bermuda, Barbados, and the Dutch Caribbean island of Aruba from the EU blacklist of tax havens today.

Amid growing concern that the pharmaceutical industry’s pricing, tax and lobbying practices are undermining the health of millions of people in the US and across the globe, this briefing presents new findings on how the biggest corporate tax cut in a generation has benefited four of America’s pharmaceutical giants.

EU finance ministers look set to whitewash nine of the world’s worst tax havens when they update the EU tax haven blacklist next week, says Oxfam.

New Oxfam research shows that four pharmaceutical corporations – Abbott, Johnson & Johnson, Merck & Co (MSD), and Pfizer – systematically hide their profits in overseas tax havens. This activity could deprive developing countries of more than $100 million every year – money that is urgently needed to meet the health needs of people in these countries.

Corporate tax dodging is fuelling the inequality crisis, and it is poor women who pay the highest price. Join Oxfam to demand that drug companies pay their fair share of taxes, make their medicines affordable and stop undermining the fight against inequality and poverty.  

Dangerous, poorly paid work for the many is supporting extreme wealth for the few. Women are in the worst work, and almost all the super-rich are men. Governments must create a more equal society by prioritizing ordinary workers and small-scale food producers instead of the rich and powerful.

The European Commission has today opened a state aid probe into the tax affairs of furniture giant Ikea with the Netherlands. This new case shows Europe still has to put its own house in order when it comes to ending tax havens within the EU.