Time to end the tax havens that shield tax cheats' fortunes and rob citizens

[meow2u3]

In recent weeks, citizens in many countries suffering from government budget cutbacks have been learning more and more about one of the biggest and most dangerous scams in the world: the global web of tax havens that U.S. and European politicians and bankers have nurtured over the years. The only real purpose of these havens is to facilitate tax evasion, money laundering, bribery, and lack of accountability for environmental and social calamities inflicted by international companies.

Now, a new analysis by a group of international organizations throws this system into sharp relief. Figures from the Enough Food for Everyone IF campaign -- supported by almost 200 organizations including Actionaid, Christian Aid, Oxfam, and Save the Children -- are revealing more about the extent of these havens. There are trillions of dollars tied up in the tax havens, with massive worldwide evasion of tax payments that undermines the budgets of rich and poor countries alike. The IF campaign makes a basic point: poverty can be fought, and austerity overcome, IF taxes are properly paid by those who owe them. Ending the tax havens and their financial secrecy is therefore urgent.

The IF Campaign is taking place just in time for this week's meeting of the finance ministers of the G7 nations -- the world's financial superpowers, and the greatest promoters of this corrupted system. They need to take action. Their deliberations feed into the June meeting of the G8 countries (consisting of the G7, plus Russia), where the potential for action to end these abuses lies.

During the boom years, the rich and powerful kept the public distracted from the tax haven reality. Yet now with budget austerity, the public is having a close look at tax evasion by the rich and powerful. As a result, the veil over the tax havens has started to slip, and the sight is not lovely.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeffrey-sachs/time-to-end-the-tax-haven_b_3241900.html?utm_hp_ref=politics&ir=Politics

[abelenkpe]

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