African union-led tax justice platforms throw their support behind ICRICT

Declaration by the  Trade Union Tax Justice Platforms of Ghana and Nigeria

The conviction of the platform stems from the fact that Africa loses more money from illicit financial flows and tax dodging compared to how much the continent receives in aid from developed countries. The continent is lacking quality public service delivery and engulfed in high levels of poverty and inequality. The platforms believe that when multinational companies and rich individuals pay their fair share of taxes, the challenges of public service delivery, poverty and inequality can be addressed. Importantly, the Platforms continue to call on African governments to, without further delay, genuinely commit to implementing the recommendations contained in the AU-ECA 2015 report on Illicit Financial Flows from Africa. The recommendations, amongst others, suggest that African governments and economies work together to eliminate tax competition amongst themselves, which ultimately leads to a race to the bottom and benefits only big businesses, whilst harming revenue prospects of the States.

 in light of the above that the platforms hereby strongly subscribe to the declaration by the Independent Commission for the Reform of International Corporate Taxation (ICRICT) on the ‘Four Ways to Tackle International Tax Competition’. The commission recommends a floor on tax competition by agreeing on a global minimum effective tax rate and work towards a common definition of the tax base; eliminating all tax breaks on profit by granting tax breaks sparingly and only on local costs to support new productive investment; establishing a level playing field for all companies, whether national or multinational by ending special tax treatment for foreign and/or large companies, and publish existing agreements; and ensure participation of citizens by enabling citizens to engage in tax debates and provide civil society access, information and training to productively engage in those debates.

The platforms are of the conviction that when these recommendations are headed by national governments, tax administrators and institutions like the UN and its subsidiaries, enough resources can be generated to fund public services, ensure decent work for working people as well as bridging the inequality gaps and reducing the level of poverty engulfing people in our countries.

Signed: Nigeria Trade Union Tax Justice and Governance Platform, Ghana Trade Union Tax Justice Platform.

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 The Nigeria and Ghana Trade Union platform is established primarily

•  to educate the entire trade union movement in these countries and across the continent on the spate of tax injustices,
• to take leadership alongside tax justice campaigns and provide support to campaigns led by PSI, other Global Union Federations (GUFs) and the ITUC-Africa,
• to mobilize unions both in the private and public sector and the citizenry to take action against illicit financial flows and tax dodging.

The platforms are led by trade unions who are affiliates of the Public Services International (PSI)- a global trade union organization with over 20 million members across the world. PSI have led Tax Justice campaigns in many African countries including Nigeria and Ghana with support from the trade union national centres.