Panama papers

The European Parliament is right to call out EU governments for their failure to agree the reforms needed to tackle large-scale tax avoidance, said Oxfam in reaction to a key vote on tax in the European Parliament.

Following the Paradise Papers revelations, the European Parliament decided today to establish a new special committee on tax fraud, tax evasion, money laundering, tax avoidance and aggressive tax planning. 

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.

Today the European Parliament adopted the report by its Panama Papers inquiry committee and voted in favor of recommendations aimed at stopping corporate tax avoidance across the European Union. Oxfam welcomes the Parliament's call for EU member states to adopt the reforms needed to end corporate tax abuses.

The upcoming EU tax haven blacklist has to include at least 35 countries, including notorious tax havens such as Switzerland and Bermuda, in order to be effective, Oxfam finds in a new report published today. The analysis also shows that at least 4 EU countries would be blacklisted if the EU were to apply its own criteria to member states.

One year on from the Panama Papers scandal and our political leaders are still not standing up to tax havens.

Within hours of Oxfam International’s Executive Director Winnie Byanyima declaring at the UNGA that the glory days for tax havens are over, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists has released a damning exposé pointing the finger at the Bahamas for tax abuse. 

The publication of the Panama Papers database is a significant blow against tax dodgers but the public should not have to rely on whistleblowers to expose tax cheats, said Oxfam today.  Oxfam is calling on politicians gathering in London for the Anti-Corruption Summit on 12 May to end the secrecy that enables companies and wealthy individuals to avoid paying their fair share of tax.

Oxfam is calling on the World Bank Group to put safeguards in place to ensure that its clients can prove they are paying their fair share of tax.