The fight against tax havens and tax evasion Progress since the London G20 summit and the challenges ahead

The recent crisis of 2008 has served to highlight the increasingly harmful effect of tax havens on the economy and on the social cohesion of developed and developing countries. The issue took on major importance at the G20 London Summit (April 2009), where the leaders announced a number of important steps to combat tax havens.

However, that initial drive has gradually lost momentum. The measures agreed at the time have proved incomplete, and in subsequent summits the G20 leaders have often limited themselves to expressing good intentions without taking concrete measures. It is to be expected that the next summit in Cannes (November 2011) will re-launch important aspects of the fight against harmful tax practices.

On the other hand, during the Spanish and Belgian presidencies of the EU in 2010, some important steps were taken towards a greater transparency in the international financial system and practices of multinational companies, which if fully implemented could have greater impact than the G20 measures.

This study seeks to take stock of progress achieved so far at the international level, particularly at the G20 and in the EU, and also to propose concrete measures for waging a more effective battle against one of the greatest scourges of our time: the dispossession of important resources from states and citizens for want of international coordination on taxation.