The 50 biggest US companies have more than a trillion dollars hidden offshore according to a new report published by Oxfam today. This is more than the entire GDP of countries such as Spain, Mexico or Australia.  It’s estimated that tax dodging by multinational companies costs countries around the world up to $240 billion annually.

The report, ‘Broken at the Top’, found the companies, which together made nearly $4 trillion in profits globally between 2008 and 2014, received a staggering $11 trillion in US government support over the same period.  Oxfam calculates that during this period, these companies collectively received approximately $27 in government support for every $1 they paid in federal taxes.

Robbie Silverman, Senior Tax Advisor at Oxfam said: “Yet again we have evidence of a massive systematic abuse of the global tax system.  We can’t go on with a situation where the rich and powerful are not paying their fair share of tax, leaving the rest of us to foot the bill. Governments across the globe must come together now to end the era of tax havens.”

Tax avoidance has become standard business practice across the globe. Oxfam estimates that 90 percent of the top 200 global companies use tax havens.

14 April 2016

Read more: www.oxfam.org