There's One Easy Way To Pay For Coronavirus Aid Without Punishing Ordinary People
As the coronavirus pandemic worsens, governments worldwide are scrambling to keep their economies afloat. Doing so will cost money — and lots of it.
In the UK we’ve witnessed Chancellor Rishi Sunak deliver a series of emergency packages. This began with £12bn to mitigate the immediate economic effects of the outbreak, followed by a huge £350bn stimulus package, £7bn of extra welfare spending, and multi-billion pound packages to support salaried and self-employed workers.
Around the world other countries are announcing similarly impressive and expensive interventions, such as the US’s $2tn stimulus package, Germany’s €600bn of “virus-aid” and €45bn released in France.
For governments, then, every scrap of revenue is critical, which makes the fact that they lose between $500bn and $600bn a year to corporate tax dodging — and $7trn of private wealth that is hidden offshore — harder to stomach than ever. In the UK, the most recent HMRC figures reveal that the nation lost £35bn in uncollected tax, including £5.2bn of corporation tax.
However, the price of our collective failure to tackle tax evasion and avoidance is not now limited to warding off an economic collapse. As health systems around the world strain under the pressure of Covid-19, it’s clear just how much we depend on strong, well-resourced public services in times of national crisis. Put simply, the money lost through illicit financial flows (IFFs) could have been used to properly equip hospitals and train health workers – as well as bolster other public services, like social care and community support.
Those profiting from tax avoidance and evasion remain largely insulated against the effects of the virus.
Instead, in the UK, the NHS goes chronically underfunded; in the US, a wasteful and inefficient private healthcare system has made health a luxury rather than a right; and throughout Europe, hospitals routinely struggle to access vital resources.
And those profiting from...
