The Tax Factor

Gordon Brown's raising some taxes and cutting others to kick-start Britain's economy, but does he know how critical tax is in the long-term fight against global poverty?

Tax is the key

We believe poor countries should be able to use their own wealth and resources to help them work their own way out of poverty.

However the tax revenues some multinationals fail to hand over to developing countries is depriving the poorest people in the world of money they need to pay for schools, hospitals and roads.

The current economic crisis is a rare opportunity for root-and-branch reform of the financial system that would benefit rich and poor countries alike.

This includes ending the secrecy surrounding the tax that multinationals pay to governments.

Act now!

We cannot stand by and let this continue.

If the secrecy surrounding multinationals' profits ended then countries would know if they were getting fair taxes from their profits.

Multinationals must publish the profits they make in every country where they operate.

The world leaders in Doha cannot deliver an end to tax secrecy alone, but they could make a start.

We can make sure the British prime minister helps get his colleagues singing from the same songsheet.

Email Gordon Brown and ask him to prove he's got the Tax Factor.

You can email Gordon here.

The above is reproduced form the Christian Aid web site.

As you can see, they are now actively campaigning for country-by-country reporting.