Charity claims ‘false accounting’ is costing lives

Christian Aid claims 1000 children a day die because of ‘false accounting’, minimizing tax liabilities

Written by AccountancyAge.com

Lives are being lost to disease and poverty in poor countries because of illegal trade-related tax evasion, Christian Aid claims in a report.

The charity has calculated the tax evasion costs the developing world at least $US160bn (₤81.5bn) in lost revenue a year and says the companies which are using ‘false accounting’ to reduce their tax liability are the culprits, Director of Finance reports.

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If the funds were instead allocated according to current spending patterns, the lives of 350,000 children under the age of five – 250,000 of them infants – could be saved every year.

The amount of tax evaded through ‘false accounting’ is almost one and a half times the aid to the developing world every year and is in addition to the amounts lost through legal tax avoidance, the report notes.

Further reading:

BBC pays £106,000 withheld from charities

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