New global rules on firms' tax disclosure urged by economists
sourceBBC NEWS
publisherAlexa Zeng
time2016/05/09
- New global rules forcing companies to report taxable activities country-by-country publicly have been called for by a group of 300 prominent economists.
In a letter to world leaders, the group urges the UK to "take a lead" in the push for more tax transparency.
Poor countries are the biggest losers from tax havens, they claim.
The letter's signatories, co-ordinated by charity Oxfam, include best-selling author Thomas Piketty and 2015 Nobel Prize economics winner Angus Deaton.
The letter comes ahead of the UK government's anti-corruption summit on Thursday, which politicians from 40 countries as well as World Bank and IMF representatives are expected to attend.
The economists - who include almost 50 professors from British universities - argue the UK's position as summit host as well as its sovereignty over what it says is a third of the world's tax havens makes it "uniquely placed" to take the lead.