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Ms Pavanelli said:
“We have a World Bank, a World Health Organisation and even an international body to regulate football – but, in the face of massive corporate tax scandals, we don’t have a global tax body. In whose interest is this?”
Commenting on outdated global tax rules:
“The current international corporate tax laws were written in the 1920’s before the ball point pen and the photocopier had been invented – yet 40 years after we put a man on the moon we still can’t tax McDonald’s properly for selling us a cheeseburger,” said Ms Pavanelli, referring to the recent exposure by public sector unions of McDonald’s alleged tax avoidance practices in Europe.
“The technical solutions exist – what we lack is the political will,” she said from New York.
“This Commission is a big step forward in including the public in a tax debate that affects everyone but has been hijacked by corporate interests and blocked by our politicians.”
“Something is very wrong when McDonald’s can siphon a billion Euros out of European tax coffers while our governments tell us that lack of revenue means we must cut health care and pensions” she said.
The Independent Commission for the Reform of International Corporate Taxation (ICRICT) chaired by former UN Under-Secretary-General José Antonio Ocampo meets for the first time on 18 March, in New York, to take expert evidence.
For further information on the ICRICT, see their website download Rosa Pavanelli's complete speech.