Tax justice

31 January 2009

WSF 2009

In the afternoon we went to a tax justice meeting. Tax is one of War on Want's campaigns and the meeting emphasised the need to keep working on this issue in the UK. London is the world's tax haven and Gordon Brown a key defender of tax havens internationally.

This was another space where the value of the WSF as a forum was shown. The Tax Justice Network itself came out of the WSF process. In less than a decade it has gone from an idea to serious movement and has helped to put this issue on the political agenda. The movement is looking to build a viable activist network in Latin America, having already created one in both Europe and Africa.

Tax exemption is a massive problem in Latin America, and at the meeting we heard some shocking statistics which were a compelling argument for a Latin American campaign. 50% of Latin American wealth is held by rich individuals in off shore bank accounts. Only 3% of it is taxed. Mexico has just given almost total tax exemption to mining companies in response to the global crisis.