PEOPLE ARE becoming angry at scandals involving the super-rich and their tax-avoiding policies. That is why the European Union (EU) says it is ‘declaring war’ on the policies of tax havens such as Liechtenstein, Monaco, Andorra and Switzerland.
These tax havens save super-rich individuals and big companies huge sums of cash in unpaid income tax and corporation tax payments. Globally, estimates of the amounts involved vary from $7 trillion to $12 trillion for individuals’ wealth alone with incalculably bigger sums involved in hidden corporate profits.
The sums involved could, if used properly, end world hunger, attack world poverty, greatly improve services such as health and education and tackle damaging climate change.
The EU is criticising mainly tiny ‘statelets’ but these minnows are hiding the wealth of leviathans. Economic necessity may force their hand to slap tax avoiders’ wrists but the capitalist EU will not go very far in attacking the interests of big business.
These huge and powerful tax-avoiding firms should be brought into public ownership, which willl make sure they cannot escape paying their way.
