Taking on the Tax Havens Via Environmental Law
I just read a good piece in the Economist about Tax Havens.
In Belgium I am paying around 50% income tax. I don’t like. It is not like I am rich. It is also a bit grating that Belgium’s indolent upper class have written themselves a tax code that would make the Cayman Islands nearly blush.
A Lot of Very Rich Companies Paying Very Little
It seems a lot of companies are doing a lot to reduce their tax bills a lot.
Action aid has a campaign targeting some of these companies who include: The press have named some of them:
The Gnomes Are Winning
Now, from I have read, it seems that these companies have very clever lawyers and accountants, who I guess are paid a lot of money to reduce these companies tax bills to the bone. And, it seems, that taking on this army of tax lawyers will not be easy, and changing the law will be tricky.
How To Get Some of those $Trillions
Well, I think there could be an other solution. It is a very dull idea. I like dull ideas. They tend to be simple, and I have found that they work.
These companies make a lot of money selling and operating in EU Member States. Now, what would happen, if government agencies started checking any one of these companies for compliance with national legislation. After having worked on environmental legislation for many years, I am sure that many serious transgressions could be found in any number of outlets. Indeed, the breaches could be so serious that the government could be forced to suspend sales until the breaches were ended. Perhaps, the electronics are not properly labelled, take back rules not followed, or any other requirements that are meant to be followed if you want to sell your product in europe.
Now, such as has been the low level of compliance with EU environmental legislation, let alone Labour legislation, that this could keep the enforcement agencies very busy for more than a few months. Unfortunately, the companies could face a lot of disruption, loss of sales and indeed even closure.
Of course, I am sure that if the companies did the right thing and paid their taxes up the whole thing could be overlooked.
I doubt the idea will catch on. You don’t want to win the big battles through the back door of little remembered rules that have often been ignored or forgotten. But, if used, it could bring back some of the $20 trillion.
It is so dull and simple it could work. I hope the Greek tax agency is not reading.