Tax Justice Network says Canada must do more to address financial secrecy

International watchdog points to extremely low tax rates on businesses, low regulation of resource industries and support for tax havens in the Caribbean.

London (5 Oct. 2011) - In its Financial Secrecy Index the International Secretariat of the Tax Justice Network (TJN) says that Canada needs to do more to address global financial secrecy.

The report says that "Canada's 56 per cent secrecy score shows that it must still make major progress in offering satisfactory financial transparency. If it wishes to play a full part in the modern financial community and to impede and deter illicit financial flows, including flows originating from tax evasion, aggressive tax avoidance practices, corrupt practices and criminal activities, it should take action on the points noted where it falls short of acceptable international standards."

It points out that Canada's role in supporting tax havens has two main components.

"First is its role as a tax haven in its own right. It levies an extremely low effective rate of tax on businesses, compared with its peers, and it is effectively a regulatory haven for the worlds extractive industries. The second, more important element concerns the role Canadian interests have played in the development of tax havens elsewhere, notably in the Caribbean."

With a secrecy score of 56 of 100 Canada is one of the less secretive jurisdictions on the Financial Secrecy Index list, especially compared to Switzerland which topped the list, but the TJN point out that there remains major room for improvement.

Many of the points raised in the Financial Secrecy Index discussion on Canada have been also raised by the National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) All Together Now! campaign (for ATN website click here and ATN facebook here).  

Report also calls out Canada's federal and provincial government's for inaction.

"Government agencies have done little to provide adequate measurement of the real losses incurred by the state as a result of tax evasion. At most, federal or provincial governments target illicit tax evasion practices within the small-scale domestic economy, rarely bringing up the problems caused by large corporations or fortune holders use of tax havens to conceal assets through the use of trusts, foundations or offshore subsidiaries."

For more information:

Mapping financial secrecy - Canada

NUPGE

The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is one of Canada's largest labour organizations with over 340,000 members. Our mission is to improve the lives of working families and to build a stronger Canada by ensuring our common wealth is used for the common good. NUPGE