Postcard plea for Big Four
International poverty and relief organisation Christian Aid is set to appeal to the heads of the Big Four firms through a postcard campaign in a bid to help stop tax dodging
The organisation is seeking the adoption of a new rule forcing multinational
companies to report tax results country by country in a bid to prevent tax
evasion. The NGO estimates evasion costs developing countries $160bn (£106bn) a
year in lost revenue.
Around 80,000
Christian Aid
supporters are being encouraged to contact the heads of the Big Four firms.
Barry Marshall, UK head of tax at
PricewaterhouseCoopers, said
the firm met with Christian Aid at the end of last year, prior to the start of
the postcard campaign.
‘We have a common interest to improve corporate reporting of tax information.
However, we do not believe the introduction of the kind of country-based
reporting proposed by this campaign would meet this ambition,’ he said.
Judith Cavanagh at Christian Aid, said: ‘Minimising tax, whatever the social
consequences, has, in recent years, gained a spurious respectability which they
[the Big Four] could help puncture.’
Spokespersons for Deloitte and E&Y refused to comment. KPMG had not
commented at the time of going to press.