{"id":19297,"date":"2013-02-17T19:39:10","date_gmt":"2013-02-17T19:39:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/?p=19297"},"modified":"2013-02-18T10:13:39","modified_gmt":"2013-02-18T10:13:39","slug":"a-suggestion-for-bill-dodwells-code-of-conduct-for-ngo-tax-campaigners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/2013\/02\/17\/a-suggestion-for-bill-dodwells-code-of-conduct-for-ngo-tax-campaigners\/","title":{"rendered":"A suggestion for Bill Dodwell’s code of conduct for NGO tax campaigners"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bill Dodwell has said NGOs working on tax campaigning should be regulated.<\/a> He had included me in his targets.<\/p>\n

TJN has challenged Dodwell<\/a> to propose the rules he'd like.<\/p>\n

I can't resist proposing Bill's Ten Commandment for us tax campaigners (plus a few bonuses because once started I had trouble stopping):<\/p>\n

1. Thou shalt not talk about tax avoidance as I sell it and would rather not mention the fact.<\/p>\n

2. Thou shalt not talk about tax havens as my firm is in all the major ones.<\/p>\n

3. Thou shalt not talk about transfer pricing because it inevitably allows companies to hide profits in tax havens and we would rather you did not point that out.<\/p>\n

4. Thou shalt not talk profit shifting as we call it tax efficient supply chain management and it's a really good product line.<\/p>\n

5. Thou shalt not call Ireland, the Netherlands and Switzerland tax havens since don't you know tax havens have palm trees?<\/p>\n

6. Thou shalt not mention small business since they can't afford our services.<\/p>\n

7. Thou shalt not mention opacity that allows people to hide what they're doing from prying eyes we do not like. We call it commercial confidentiality instead.<\/p>\n

8. Thou shalt not mention automatic information exchange. Why on earth should the odds be stacked against our clients?<\/p>\n

9. Thou shalt not mention putting accounts on public record. Heavens above, since when were accounts equated with accountability?<\/p>\n

10. Please do not mention the world's tax systems being biased in favour of multinational companies. Don't you know they're my clients?<\/p>\n

Bonus 1. Thou shalt not do honest research based on the accounts we have signed. Who gave you the right to think they might be reliable?<\/p>\n

Bonus 2. Thou shalt not talk to parliamentarians about what you find. Why on earth should democratically elected people enquire about what we do?<\/p>\n

Bonus 3. Thou shalt not mention professional ethics. Ethics are intended to constrain NGOs, not professions.<\/p>\n

Bonus 4. Thou shalt not mention the tax gap. How dare you suggest some people do not pay the tax they might owe?<\/p>\n

Bonus 5. Thou shalt show respect to those who earn more than you because don't you know earnings are directly correlated with ability? <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bill Dodwell has said NGOs working on tax campaigning should be regulated. He had included me in his targets. TJN has challenged Dodwell to propose
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