PSI,
Geneva, 18 June 2015 -
Seven years after the 2008 financial crisis, it is clear that austerity does
not work. On the contrary, cutting public spending has only produced more unemployment,
poverty and inequality. At the same time, bankers, financiers and corporations
see their profits boom and much-needed resources for funding public services
are hidden in tax havens and tax avoidance schemes.
On
the occasion of World Public Service Day on 23 June, Public Services
International (PSI) General Secretary Rosa Pavanelli says:
“We all have to pay tax, so why don’t
multinationals? PSI, the global trade union movement and our civil society
partners are committed to ending the global tax-dodging schemes that rob
countries around the world of billions of tax revenues. These very resources
could finance quality public services for all, including healthcare, education, water and
sanitation, which are
vital for social development.”
The
labour movement has historically denounced global tax rules that allow
multinational companies to avoid paying their fair share - the same
multinationals that want to accrue their power by negotiating trade agreements,
such as TPP, TTIP and TISA, solely conceived to allow them to make profits
above and beyond national regulations.
Rosa
Pavanelli continues:
“We are facing challenges of formidable
proportion, but 2015 is a historical opportunity to change the current global
reality. In mid-July, governments will meet in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, at the Third
International Conference on Financing for Development (FFD3), to decide on how to finance development
in the coming decades. All countries, from North to South, should have an equal
seat at the table when deciding international tax rules, not just the richest
ones. PSI is convinced that there cannot be development
without public services, therefore we advocate and lobby for the reform of
corporate taxation to be at the top of the FFD3 agenda.”
PSI
calls on all its affiliates to mobilise and push for a fairer tax system for
all. Together we can demand an international tax system that represents the
interests of the many, not the few. Together we can demand that our governments
challenge tax avoidance schemes, so that countries are better able to provide
quality public services for all.
We
demand:
·
Global Solutions: An inclusive intergovernmental tax
body that co-ordinates tax policy and
implementation for the benefit of all;
·
Transparency: The public needs to know about the profits made and
taxes paid by companies in each country they operate in;
·
Multinationals Pay Their Fair Share: Multinational corporations with
subsidiaries in tax havens that act as single entities, should be taxed
as single entities so
profits cannot be shifted and taxes avoided ;
·
Fair taxation to fund quality public
services: We need fair tax
policies to pay for
free, universal quality health and education services, to end poverty and
reduce inequality, and to fund sustainable development
We
need you! We can only create a just tax system if we stand together.
#TaxJustice
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