King Charles has been urged to call for the breakup of the UK's network of satellite tax havens through which an estimated 152 bn worth of tax is avoided annually, according to campaigners.
The Tax Justice Network, a group of scientists and activists advocating for tax avoidance, are calling for King Charles to use his reign as monarch to call for a reform of laws that allow industrial scale tax avoidance in the UK, the crown dependencies and the British overseas territories.
The campaigners will tell King Charles in a letter today that they hope his coronation will mark a pivotal moment to address the heavy financial and human cost borne by ordinary people because of the UK and its network of tax havens over which your majesty is sovereign We believe your majesty can help by pointing the way to end one of the world's most enduring injustices, said Alex Cobham, chief executive of the Tax Justice Network.
The UK, the crown dependences and the British overseas territories are collectively responsible for facilitating nearly 40% of the tax revenue loss that countries worldwide experience annually due to profit shifting by multinational corporations and to offshore tax evasion by primarily wealthy and powerful individuals.
This makes the UK and its network of satellite tax havens the world's biggest source of global tax abuse. Our latest estimates from the state of tax justice report put the sum of this tax loss imposed upon the world by British tax havens at over $189 bn 152 bn.
The UN's sustainable development objectives for 2030 include reducing global tax abuse.
In 2015-2016, Cobham said the UK government had shown true leadership in tackling tax avoidance by becoming the first country to adopt a public register of beneficial ownership and require multinational corporations to publish country reports on profits and tax.
Sadly, your majesty's government has since backpedalled on this progress. The crown dependencies and overseas territories to establish public beneficial ownership registers were pushed back, with recent statements by officials now hinting that the jurisdictions may never establish the registers. This year, Jersey has introduced a new form of anonymous ownership vehicle. If the UK, crown dependencies and British overseas territories were reversed, 6.4 million people in lower-income nations would gain access to basic drinking water, one2.6 million would gain access to basic sanitation, and 1.2 million children could attend school for an extra year.
The government did not acknowledge the 152 bn tax loss each year, a Treasury spokeswoman said.
The UK has pursued international tax reform, which includes enhancing tax transparency, enabling countries to find hidden incomes and assets, and by implementing the global minimum corporate tax, ensuring large multinational groups pay the right tax in the right place.