Mannin : Tax haven policies will kill over five million children - claim
Just a week after the Celtic League called for the Isle of Man to admit its 'tax mistakes' and acknowledge the danger its economic policies could cause internationally the whole issue of tax avoidance and tax evasion has come in for wider criticism.
Christian Aid has used its annual appeal week to unveil a report (DEATH AND TAXES: THE TRUE TOLL OF TAX DODGING) which highlights the disadvantages that tax practices facilitated in offshore centres cause to the worlds poorest people. The charity has calculated that governments in the poorest countries are being cheated out of at least dollars160bn (£82bn) a year in tax revenues. The loss of this revenue, the charity says, has an immediate and tragic consequence. Christian Aid Director, Dr Daleep Mukarji, says the charity predicts:
"that illegal trade-related tax evasion alone will be responsible for the deaths of 5.6 million children under the age of five between 2000 and 2015. That's almost 1,000 a day"
The charity points out that the revenue stream denied to poor countries amounts to much more than the dollars40 to dollars60bn the World Bank estimates is needed to pay for the United Nation's Millennium Development Goals.
The United Kingdom Government, the charity asserts, has a special responsibility and influence because so many tax havens are linked to the Crown. It cites overseas territories or crown dependencies including Jersey, Guernsey, the Isle of Man, the Cayman Islands, Bermuda and the British Virgin Islands. Interestingly, unlike many other reports which highlight the role of 'tax havens', the Christian Aid report also highlights the nefarious role of financial services centres such as the City of London and Dublin in the global tax dodging business.
All in all a hard hitting report well worth reading. It can be found at:
There is also a podcast and video about the report at:
J B Moffatt Director of Information Celtic League
12/05/08
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