Report accuses Big Four of legitimising tax havens
Tax Justice Network slams big accounting firms
A report by the Tax Justice
Network has accused the Big Four of ‘legitimising the use of
offshore tax havens and for not taking a strong enough lead in international tax
compliance.
Following publication of its new report
‘Closing
the Floodgates: Collecting Tax to Pay for Development’, Richard Murphy, a
senior adviser to the network said: ‘The extensive presence in tax havens of the
Big Four
accountancy firms in itself serves to legitimise the offshore world, which is
vital in capital flight.’
‘The global losses, often for the poorer countries, probably runs to many
hundreds of billions of dollars a year,’ he added.
The Tax Justice Network’s 150-page report says that major international
accountancy brands all have offices across nearly all the major offshore tax
havens.
The reports says KPMG works in 41 of these, PwC appears to have a presence in
38, the same number as Ernst & Young, and Deloitte is present in 33 tax
havens.
Further reading:
Jersey tax change enrages activists
UK tax competitiveness: Haven can’t wait
HMRC hands ‘Monaco Millionaires’ a lifeline
