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De multinationals en rijken moeten meer belasting gaan betalen

Jun 30, 2020 José Antonio Ocampo and Tommaso Faccio

NEW YORK – De COVID-19-pandemie zal de wereldeconomie gebutst en bebloed achterlaten. Een verkeerd belastingbeleid zal de schade op de korte termijn verergeren en het herstel op de langere termijn in de weg zitten.

Nu de crisis nog maar een paar maanden onderweg is staan de balansen van de publieke sector al onder zware druk. Omdat de lockdowns en andere social distancing-protocollen de economische activiteit kortwieken hebben veel regeringen van hoogontwikkelde landen grootschalige monetaire en budgettaire stimuleringsmaatregelen gelanceerd. Intussen kelderen de belastinginkomsten en rijst de werkloosheid de pan uit, wat een scherpe stijging van de toekomstige overheidsuitgaven zal inhouden.

De vooruitzichten zijn vooral somber voor de ontwikkelingslanden, waarvan vele de budgettaire ruimte ontberen om stimuleringsmaatregelen door te voeren en bang zijn voor kapitaalvlucht als ze het toch proberen. Sommigen omarmen zelfs een bezuinigingsbeleid, wat het nagenoeg onmogelijk zal maken de economie weer op gang te brengen en de schatkist aan te vullen.

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José Antonio Ocampo

Writing for PS since 2006
51 Commentaries

José Antonio Ocampo, a former finance minister of Colombia and United Nations under-secretary-general, is a professor at Columbia University, Chair of the UN Committee for Development Policy, and Chair of the Independent Commission for the Reform of International Corporate Taxation. He is the author of Resetting the International Monetary (Non)System (Oxford University Press, 2017) and co-author (with Luis Bértola) of The Economic Development of Latin America since Independence (Oxford University Press, 2012).

Tommaso Faccio

Writing for PS since 2020
3 Commentaries

Tommaso Faccio is Lecturer in Accounting at Nottingham University Business School and Head of the Secretariat of the Independent Commission for the Reform of International Corporate Taxation.

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Robert REYNOLDS Jul 6, 2020

Jose and Tommaso certainly make many relevant points here and advocate many long overdue reforms which one should expect any worthwhile social democratic party to support.

However, as contributor Michael Public indicates below, taxing these multinational behemoths is not going to be an easy task. Apart from the influence that they exert on politicians, there is also the fact that if governments seek to impose taxation measures upon them which they really do not like, then these corporations will have no compunction about threatening governments with canceling services or moving their operations offshore completely. Such threats would not be made in an idle way, In other words, in pursuit of their profits, they will be quite prepared to hold whole countries to ransom.

The capitalist robber barons' bluff must be called when this tactic is used. Their businesses must be nationalized or alternatively, publically owned corporations must be established to replace them that are designed to be transparent and to operate in the interests of the community. That is where the real challenge lies.
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shayre Jun 30, 2020

Sukh's Thoughts: The changes recommended here could have been made at any time over the last 20 years, if not before that.

The only reason that they will now be implemented is the fact that the benefits of hegemony and globalization that the developed world enjoyed are now coming to an end. It was pragmatic to allow developed-world multinationals to avoid taxes while developed-world-led globalization ran its course. When this exorbitant privilege came to its eventual, unavoidable end, ONLY THEN would the developed world "see the light" and realize that they can easily tax multi-nationals by assuming that any company's profits are in proportion to the revenues generated in that country. AND, if the corporation does not like the tax rules, they are free to leave.

The void they leave will be almost instantaneously filled by a new or existing provider of the same services more than willing to pay the taxes required (for the opportunity to basically take over an existing business at no cost).
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Michael Public Jun 30, 2020

Above, the author writes an important article for the citizens of Lala Land, where politicians are not bought by business, where super PACCs don't exist and lobbying is punished by death. /sarcasm font off.

You are right that this needs to change, but nothing is what is going to happen, because those in who make the rules are fed by big business - and only fools bite the hand that feeds.
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Michael Public Jun 30, 2020

These days it is not so simple. For example, Google pay Apple USD 1 billion every year for them to use their search engine. Presumably google make USD 2 billion in revenue off this payment or they would not do it. Tax the revenue at 25% and add other running costs such as developers at $300 000 to $600 000 pa and you get a loss.
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