Eurodad response to International Consortium of Investigative Journalists' #MauritiusLeaks

Share

Today, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists released another ground breaking tax exposure. The #MauritiusLeaks show how multinational corporations from all over the world have used Mauritius to avoid taxes, including on their own operations in some of the world’s poorest countries.

Reacting to the leaks, Tove Maria Ryding, Tax Coordinator at the European Network on Debt and Development (Eurodad), said:

"#MauritiusLeaks is yet another shocking example of large-scale international corporate tax dodging and shows first-hand the grave impacts this is having on the poorest countries in the world. When corporations pay less tax, it either means that everyone else will have to pay more, or that there will be less funding for public services such as schools and hospitals. The impacts of corporate tax avoidance are particularly hard on developing countries, which don’t have many options for raising revenue to finance their development.

"#MauritiusLeaks is a tough reminder of why our current international tax rules belong in the bin. The most recent review of the global tax rules – the 2015 package on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) has failed to solve large-scale corporate tax avoidance. Mauritius is one out of many tax havens that have managed to maneuver through the new international tax rules keep offering corporations ways to slash their taxes. We see several other examples in Europe, such as the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Ireland.

"Governments are right now renegotiating the international tax system again, and we welcome the recognition that the system is still not working. But unfortunately, there is a high risk that countries will once again agree on the lowest common denominator, and that the flaws from the old system will be carried over to the next. We’re also concerned that the negotiations are still happening behind closed doors at the OECD, and that over one third of the world’s countries are not at the table. What we need is a truly inclusive and transparent negotiation at the United Nations, where all countries can participate on an equal footing.

"Many of the international tax scandals, including #MauritiusLeaks, would not have happened without the help of a brave whistleblowers. But we should not have to rely on individuals who take great risks to expose the failures of the global tax system. We need real transparency, to ensure that the public can see where multinational corporations are doing business, and how much corporate tax they pay in each country where they operate."