Guest blog: by Ema Jackson, ActionAid
At ActionAid we’ve been campaigning for tax justice and exposing how big businesses dodge their taxes since 2008. We’ve come up with a fun new way to share what we’ve learnt: a tax justice walking tour around Mayfair.
Tax dodging by big business has become big news, but it’s not just the UK that’s losing out. Developing countries lose three times more to tax havens than they receive in aid each year. The scale of the problem is huge; the Tax Justice Network estimates that over $20 trillion is stashed in offshore tax havens.
Tax havens are one of the reasons that countries like Zambia, with huge mineral wealth, still experience widespread poverty. If the foreign companies that mine Zambia’s huge copper reserves paid their fair share of tax, the government would have more resources to tackle poverty. ActionAid estimated that UK-listed mining giant Glencore’s tax dodging through tax havens like Switzerland & Jersey could have cost Zambia £76 million in just one year – that’s more than the total aid the country receives from the UK.
Are you wondering how big businesses manage to avoid taxes and how they get away with it? If you’re curious about the answers to these questions, this walking tour is for you.
In the last few years, tax justice campaigning by ActionAid and others has made good progress, but there is still a long way to go. The point of this tour is for people to understand what’s going on and to feel inspired that there is something everyone can do about tax dodging. Whether you are totally new to tax justice or already campaigning on this, the tour is a fun way to learn and get involved.
If you’d like to join us on a tour, the next on is on Tuesday November 11th, 6.30-8.30pm, starting at Piccadilly Circus – find out more and book your place here.
ActionAid campaigners Natasha Adams and Tom Barns are guides for ‘Show me the Money – A Tax Treasure Hunt’. This is ActionAid’s tax justice walking tour of Mayfair, running from Piccadilly Circus to Bond Street.