The world is losing $492bn to tax abuse, largely because eight countries have blocked UN tax reform, according to the Tax Justice Network’s annual report published on Tuesday 19 November. The report places Luxembourg among the top ten countries in the world in terms of tax losses due to corporate tax abuse.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/31857980

Every year, countries lose $492bn in tax a year to multinational corporations and wealthy individuals using tax havens to underpay tax, says the Tax Justice Network. Two-thirds of these losses, or $347.6bn, are attributable to tomultinational corporations shifting profit offshore to underpay tax. The remaining $144.8bn is due to “wealthy individuals hiding their wealth offshore.”

Almost half of these losses come from eight countries that oppose the adoption of a tax treaty under the aegis of the UN: Australia, Canada, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, the United Kingdom and the United States, says the report. These “harmful eight,” according to the Tax Justice Network, cost the world $212bn in lost tax revenue every year.

Biggest contributors to tax havens and financial secrecy

Share of total global inflicted tax loss.

Country %
1 Cayman Islands 9.19%
2 Hong Kong 9.18%
3 Ireland 8.30%
4 United States 7.61%
5 Canada 6.34%
6 Singapore 5.90%
7 United Kingdom 4.76%
8 Gibraltar 4.49%
9 Switzerland 4.22%
10 Luxembourg 3.49%