Oxfam's 'tax haven-free' list includes 25 cities in Spain
Friday, October 28, 2016 @ 5:57 PM
TWENTY-FIVE cities in Spain have pledged to be 'tax haven-free' in line with an Intermón Oxfam campaign.
This means they will scrupulously monitor the source and destination of all money handled by the council and exchanged through companies working as suppliers for them or who are awarded one-off or ongoing public works contracts.
They will only work with firms which can show they do not 'hide' their funds in tax havens – such as banks in Bermuda, Uruguay, Belice, Switzerland and other countries famously used to launder cash – in order to avoid paying their duties in Spain.
Suppliers and contractors, among other non-employees, working for town, city and provincial councils and regional governments account for 25% of Spain's GDP, meaning the tax paid on these transactions runs into billions.
Estimates show that if all money-launderers and tax-avoiders in Spain accounted for every euro they earnt and paid the required duties on it in the country, the national debt could be wiped out within months.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com