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Tax Avoidance and Evasion

I agree with that so strongly that I was on the other side of the River Thames with my hon. Friend the Member for Northampton, North (Ms Keeble) just 24 hours ago with a vulture on my arm to highlight the issue to which the hon. Gentleman refers. The ability of sovereign Governments in both developed and developing countries to tax effectively is seriously undermined by international tax avoidance and evasion. Under-resourced tax authorities struggle to track the extent to which taxable income from multinationals is moved offshore. Few developing countries can navigate the complexities of multinationals' structures in order to determine tax liability, especially when their people are dying for want of clean drinking water, malaria treatments and sanitation services. Long-term policies in areas such as tax collection and enforcement cannot realistically be adequately supported in crisis and disaster-led circumstances. This is clearly an issue of policy coherence. We cannot continue to spend billions of pounds of UK taxpayers' money only for it to come back to the western world, including to the UK, as illicit money. Trevor Manuel has also said:""It is a contradiction to support increased development assistance, yet turn a blind eye to actions by multinationals and others that undermine the tax base of a developing country."" That is happening on a grand scale. Greater transparency is required globally to ensure that more of those resources stay in developing countries and are used for development. That can be achieved by implementing a new international accounting standard and addressing secrecy in tax havens and offshore financial centres.