Oxfam wants ministers to crack down on tax evaders
Ministers of G20 countries must deliver on their climate finance promises and support a second wave of attacks on corporate tax cheats if they want to be successful in their Lima meeting, Oxfam said on Wednesday.
“Corporate tax dodgers deprive Latin America of half of its potential tax revenue. This is immoral and unsustainable. Finance ministers must crack down on them if they are serious about tackling poverty and inequality,” Oxfam executive director Winnie Byanyima said on Wednesday.
She said G20 ministers, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB) must move beyond the current disappointing package of reforms and support a second generation of deeper tax reform.
“They must include all countries on equal footing to make the global tax system work in the interest of the majority, not the vested interests of the few,” said Byanyima.
Peru is hosting G20 finance ministers for a meeting on Thursday, followed by IMF and WB annual meetings, which are set to take place Oct. 9-11.
G20 finance ministers are expected to endorse an OECD package of reforms to the global tax system, which aims to tackle aggressive tax avoidance by multinational companies in their Lima meeting.
The finance ministers are also set to establish what progress they have made on their promise to mobilize US$100 billion in climate finance per year by 2020. They will also find measures to close the remaining finance gap.
Oxfam says it is concerned that despite significant new funds being pledged in recent months, donor governments will exaggerate progress they have made toward the $100 billion, in which the money available for adaptations might be still well below what is needed.
“If finance ministers can maintain this year’s momentum on climate finance they can bring a strong climate deal one step closer. The responsibility sits on their shoulders to ensure the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people are not left to cope alone,” Byanyima said.
“They must give an unvarnished account of exactly how much of the $100 billion a year they have mobilized to date – and set out a credible plan for how they will mobilize the rest of the money by 2020.” (ebf)(++++)
