18 November - Tax Avoidance: Developing Countries Are Paying The Price
Tax avoidance and evasion cost developing countries billions of dollars every year in lost revenue, a report by Eurodad claims. The research, aimed to inform and support CSOs’ tax justice advocacy work, finds that government-controlled Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) play a central role in this by providing a low taxation environment and financial secrecy for private sector projects through tax havens. This report makes a critical analysis of multilateral and bilateral DFIs in terms of their use of tax havens but also of their level of portfolio transparency. It argues that as institutions whose aim is to reduce poverty and contribute to sustainable development, DFIs now have an opportunity to set an example of best practice in terms of fair taxation, transparency and accountability, and makes recommendations for DFIs to contribute to establishing the highest standards of responsible finance.