Poland and Denmark exclude tax haven companies from coronavirus relief schemes

Authored by thelondoneconomic.com and submitted by kullnames

Poland and Denmark have taken unprecedented steps to exclude companies registered in tax havens from coronavirus relief schemes.

The Danish government announced this weekend that companies which pay out dividends, buy back own shares or are registered in offshore tax jurisdictions won’t be eligible for any of the state aid programmes.

It comes as Poland attached similar caveats to its own bail-out schemes, making PLN 25 billion available to large firms who pay taxes in Poland and not elsewhere.

The moves have been met with sympathy on social media, with many people suggesting other countries such as the UK should follow suit.

Last year groundbreaking research found Britain was by far the biggest enabler of global corporate tax dodging.

Of the top 10 countries allowing multinationals to avoid paying billions in tax on their profits, four are British overseas territories.

An index published by the Tax Justice Network found that the UK has “single-handedly” done the most to break down the global corporate tax system which loses an estimated $500bn (£395bn) to avoidance.

The amount dodged globally each year is more than three times the NHS budget or roughly equivalent to the entire Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Belgium.

Related: Government support for businesses needs to become ‘faster and simpler’ – BCC

_Jane_Doe_ on April 20th, 2020 at 12:06 UTC »

I hope this is the start of governments looking closely at tax dodging companies, and closing the loopholes that allow them to do this.

I know here in Australia, they're going to be crying out for tax dollars to replenish what they've given out in social support once this pandemic is all over. I imagine a lot of countries will. Rather than trying to reclaim it for the citizens they should go after these big corporations. They would make back twice what they gave out, and it would trickle down to further stimulate the economy.

GoodCam97 on April 20th, 2020 at 11:05 UTC »

You can’t take out from the system if you havnt put your fair share in

bab1a94b-e8cd-49de-9 on April 20th, 2020 at 09:46 UTC »

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