Developing countries in Africa are trying to tweak their tax systems to fund social
services, like schools and hospitals. But while local small businesses are being are
being brought into the system, big international companies are sometimes given a tax
break.
A report released this week by anti-poverty agency ActionAid found that
one multinational brewer is avoiding over 23 million euros of taxes in Africa and
India every year. That’s enough money to educate a quarter of a million African children.
The
report says that a complex system of tax havens are used to siphon profits out of
subsidiaries in developing countries, depriving those governments of significant amounts
of tax.
“Raising tax revenues is absolutely essential for all developing countries,”
says Chris Jordan, Tax Justice Campaigner at ActionAid. “Long term, it’s the way they’re
going to get themselves out of poverty sustainably and not need aid.”
Listen
to Chris Jordan’s interview with Kelsea Brennan-Wessels: