Tax justice in Europe: why does it matter for workers?

"Tax avoidance by corporations is widespread in Europe and costs governments more than €70bn annually. This revenue loss, and the legal ramifications of strategies that multinational companies use to avoid paying taxes, starves public services of funding, limits the bargaining power of trade un...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Ryding, Tove Maria
Institution:ETUI-European Trade Union Institute
Format: TEXT
Language:English
Published: Brussels 2018
ETUI
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.labourline.org/KENTIKA-19398850124911160329-Tax-justice-in-europe-why-does.htm
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author Ryding, Tove Maria
author_facet Ryding, Tove Maria
collection Library items
description "Tax avoidance by corporations is widespread in Europe and costs governments more than €70bn annually. This revenue loss, and the legal ramifications of strategies that multinational companies use to avoid paying taxes, starves public services of funding, limits the bargaining power of trade unions and undermines employee rights. This ETUI policy brief outlines the scale of the problem, describes some of the ways that corporations limit their tax liabilities, and suggests some practical solutions. The brief shows that corporations have a range of strategies for avoiding paying taxes, including: declaring themselves to be multinationals; use of ‘transfer pricing’ to shift sales from high to low tax jurisdictions; and concluding secret tax deals with governments. Wealthy individuals also have a number of accounting and legal tricks available to them to conceal their assets. Nevertheless, the brief argues that a number of solutions to tax avoidance are already on the table - although they require that the political will be summoned to act upon them. Greater transparency in companies’ tax affairs, new international rules to limit transfer pricing and better protection for whistleblowers are all needed. Public awareness of the magnitude of the problem in an era of squeezed public budgets has put the issue of tax justice firmly on the agenda, providing trade unions and other reformers with an impetus to pressure governments and EU institutions to take action. "
format TEXT
geographic EU countries
id 19398850124911160329_c7acf2c8d12045c4a9598933f91a2f62
institution ETUI-European Trade Union Institute
is_hierarchy_id 19398850124911160329_c7acf2c8d12045c4a9598933f91a2f62
is_hierarchy_title Tax justice in Europe: why does it matter for workers?
language English
physical 5 p.
Digital
publishDate 2018
publisher Brussels
ETUI
spellingShingle Ryding, Tove Maria
tax evasion
multinational enterprise
tax system
trade union role
social implication
Tax justice in Europe: why does it matter for workers?
thumbnail https://www.labourline.org/Image_prev.jpg?Archive=133913595119
title Tax justice in Europe: why does it matter for workers?
topic tax evasion
multinational enterprise
tax system
trade union role
social implication
url https://www.labourline.org/KENTIKA-19398850124911160329-Tax-justice-in-europe-why-does.htm