Pandora Papers: Oxfam India Responds
- By Abhirr VP
- 04 Oct, 2021
Tax havens cost governments around the world $427 billion each year. Ordinary taxpayers have to pick up the pieces. Developing countries are being hardest hit, proportionately.
4 Oct, 2021| Responding to the Pandora papers which exposed the wealthy individuals and multinational corporations using tax havens to avoid paying their fair share of tax, Amitabh Behar, CEO of Oxfam India, said:
“This is another shocking exposé of the oceans of money sloshing around the darkness of the world’s tax havens that must prompt immediate action, as has long been promised. Whenever a politician or business leader claims there is ‘no money’ to pay for health, education, climate damage, innovation and for a fair post-COVID recovery, they know where to look".
“Tax havens cost governments around the world $427 billion each year. That is the equivalent of a nurse’s yearly salary every second of every hour, every day. Ordinary taxpayers have to pick up the pieces. Developing countries are being hardest hit, proportionately. Corporations and the wealthiest individuals that use tax havens are outcompeting those who don’t. Tax havens also help crime and corruption to flourish".
“We cannot allow tax havens to continue to stretch global inequality to breaking point while the world experiences the largest increase in extreme poverty in decades. Abolishing tax havens can go a long way towards ensuring that government actually have the access to tax revenue they need to fund quality public expenditure, however at the same time governments must continue to spend more on social welfare and public services as a larger proportion of existing budget allocations to at least provide the bare minimum of services of health and education for all.”
Oxfam calls on governments to end tax havens by:
1: Ending tax secrecy on individuals, offshores and multinational corporations. Set up a public register on the real owners of bank accounts, trusts, shell companies and assets. Require multinational corporations to publicly report their accounts where they do business, country-by-country.
2: Increasing the use of automatic exchange, allowing revenue authorities access to information they need to track the money.
3: Agreeing a global blacklist of tax havens and taking counter measures, including sanctions, to limit their use.
4: Setting a new global agenda on taxing wealth and capital fairly; addressing tax competition between countries on high-net-worth-individuals, either on income or wealth, against agreed standards.
About Oxfam India
Oxfam India is a movement of people working to end discrimination and create a free and just society. We work to ensure that Adivasis, Dalits, Muslims, and women and girls have safe violence-free lives with freedom to speak their mind, equal opportunities to realize their rights, and a discrimination-free future.
📢Oxfam India is now on Telegram. Click here to join our Telegram channel and stay tuned to the latest updates and insights on social and development issues.
Recent News
Related Stories
07 Jul, 2022
Lohardaga, Jharkhand
Samar and Aarti Go To School
In Lohardaga, we are running 4 Mohalla Classes where 75 children are attending these Classes. The children were not able to continue their studies when schools shut during the second wave. Anita and her husband did not have enough money to get the children private tuitions. They stopped studies and spent all their time playing. But things changed once Oxfam India started Mohalla Classes in the village. Samar and Aarti joined these classes too along with 20 other children in the village.
Read More
09 Jun, 2022
New Delhi
Food Stall Supports Families
During lockdown, Oxfam India and CFAR provided rations to communities through Mission Sanjeevani. “Given that employment opportunities were almost non-existent during that time, we reached out to CFAR stating that we wanted to work independently to generate our income,” says Jaya. CFAR and Oxfam India then provided material to set up the stall, kitchen utensils for cooking and rations. Soon after, the food stall was up and running. The Mahila Shakti SHG members also set up a group bank account for themselves.
Read More
09 Jun, 2022
New Delhi
Cash For Livelihood
Salma and Zareena had struggled financially their entire lives. As if that was not enough – the lockdown worsened their situation and left them struggling to even get basic necessities like food. With financial support from Oxfam India’s Cash Transfer Programme, they now generate their own income, support their families and are independent.
Read More
30 May, 2022
Uttar Pradesh & Jharkhand
1081 Out Of School Children Enrolled
As of 30 May, we enrolled 1081 out of school children in 7 districts in Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand. First with the sustained efforts of the Mohalla Classes and later with a dogged enrolment drive in 7 districts—Raebareli, Pratapgarh, Fatehpur, Meerut, Muzaffarnagar, Gumla and Lohardaga—these children now have a shot at a better future.
Read More
