Fight for global tax justice must be an EU priority

Of the $1 trillion in profits “shifted to tax havens worldwide”, $215 billion has been shifted to EU tax havens according to a report commissioned by The Left and authored by Czech academic and economist Petr Janský.

Profit shifting refers to the practice of shifting profits generated in one country to another to avail of a lower rate of tax. The report finds that at least two-thirds of the EU member states lose out due to profit shifting by multinationals.

“Multinationals shift billions of profits into tax havens, while public coffers go empty” says Martin Schirdewan, MEP and Co-President of The Left.

“Apparently, EU finance ministers are reluctant to make big corporations pay their fair share to the public purse. In this way, they are making themselves jointly responsible for cuts in public services and decay of infrastructure. We all pay the bill eventually.”

The report is available in German here: https://www.martin-schirdewan.eu/studie-zur-gewinnverschiebung-von-konzernen/

Martin Schirdewan’s preface to the report is here.