City, University of London, posted this late last week:
A tax expert from City, University of London is providing expertise to a project that aims to develop new standards for the ways businesses report their payments to governments.
Professor Richard Murphy, of the Department of International Politics, has joined the Technical Committee of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) project.
It is expected that the measures that are developed will be incorporated into the GRI Standards, which aim to offer best practice for businesses when they report their economic, environmental and social impacts.
According to GRI, there is increasing pressure on big organisations to reveal more about their payments to governments.
“Currently, many companies publicly disclose very limited information on their tax structure or taxes paid at a country-by-country level,” the GRI states in the project proposal.
“Greater transparency can be one tool to help ensure public and stakeholder confidence that companies employ fair tax strategies and demonstrate their contributions to society in the regions where they operate.”
GRI is an international independent standards organisation that helps businesses, governments and other organizations understand and communicate their impacts on various issues.
More than 4,000 organisations use GRI's standards for their sustainability reports.
Professor Murphy said: “GRI has played an active role in improving the voluntary reporting of multinational corporations on many issues considered to be of social importance. It's now clear that tax falls into this category.
“As a result, many companies will be looking for guidance that goes beyond any new legal rules. This is what I hope the GRI project can deliver and so help to bridge the lack of confidence many have in multinational corporations on this issue.”
Professor Murphy is, in addition to his university role, a UK chartered accountant and honorary fellow of the Association of International Accountants.
He is widely credited as being the creator, in 2003, of country-by-country reporting, which is now being promoted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development OECD to improve tax transparency for multinational corporations and is subject to a proposal for public publication from the European Commission.
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Congratulations Richard. I am sure that you will be a welcome addition and your expertise a valuable asset to the GRI project.
[…] A tax expert, Professor Richard Murphy from City, University of London has joined the Technical Committee of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) project. He will provide expertise to develop new standards for the ways businesses report their payments to governments which will be incorporated into the GRI Standards. According to GRI, there is increasing pressure on big organisations to reveal more about their payments to governments. “Greater transparency can be one tool to help ensure public and stakeholder confidence that companies employ fair tax strategies and demonstrate their contributions to society in the regions where they operate”, stated the project proposal, which hopes to provide guidance that goes beyond any new legal rules. Professor Murphy is credited as the creator of country-by-country reporting, which is now being promoted by the OECD to improve tax transparency for multinational corporations. (Tax Research) […]
Excellent news, Richard. Well done. Sometimes it seems that progress is stultified by the louder voices of conservatism but, in truth, I think we’re travelling in the right direction, albeit painfully slowly. Your passion for tax reform is a valuable element in the fight for greater global democracy and equality. In the oft-quoted words of Margaret Mead: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”
As a post-script, did you see last night’s 1st episode of the BBC 2-part documentary ‘The Secrets of Silicon Valley’? (http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0916ghz/secrets-of-silicon-valley-series-1-1-the-disruptors). While the entire film is fascinating, at 26.37 there’s an interesting interview with Larry Stone, the Assessor of Santa Clara County (home to Google et al.) about tax and the global corporations. Worth a watch IMHO.
Thanks