Christian Aid have just issued this press release and since I am sitting in their office right now beside Jospeph Stead I think I can share it:<\/p>\n
\nEuropean Parliament moves to force banks to reveal more about their finances are a huge step towards getting companies to pay their taxes \u2014 although the new rules should be extended to other industries, Christian Aid says today.<\/p>\n
\u2018The Parliament\u2019s work on bankers\u2019 bonuses has won lots of attention but its decision to make banks reveal more about their finances will have a far bigger and better impact on people around the world,\u2019 said Joseph Stead, Christian Aid\u2019s Senior Adviser on Economic Justice.<\/p>\n
\u2018The Parliament\u2019s decision to require banks to report their finances on a country-by-country basis, which has now been preliminarily agreed with the European Council, means that they will have to publish details such as profits made and taxes paid separately for every country in which they operate.<\/p>\n
\u2018That will make it much easier for tax authorities to spot when banks are artificially shifting profits out of the countries where they were really made and into tax havens. Such profit-shifting is currently a severe problem for many governments, including the UK\u2019s but also those of developing countries.<\/p>\n
\u2018The only barrier remaining is for EU Member States to agree formally to this change, and there are rumours the UK may seek to object. Christian Aid urges the UK government to support the European Parliament\u2019s reform, which is entirely consistent with what UK ministers have said about tackling aggressive tax avoidance and corruption.\u2019<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not just banks which should have to reveal more about their finances, added Mr Stead. Christian Aid has been campaigning for years for the introduction of country-by-country reporting across all industries, because tax dodging is a major problem across all industries.<\/p>\n
Christian Aid estimates that at present, multinationals\u2019 tax dodging costs developing countries $160 billion a year, which is far more than they receive in aid. This has devastating effects on people living in poverty. We believe country-by-country reporting could make a major difference, for poor and rich countries alike.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Christian Aid is right. We are making progress - but we need CBC for all companies and we need to ensure that the UK does not object to this enormous step forward in global accountability and transparency. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"