Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Love Haringey Hate Tax Dodging - Event Summary
Hello all - a summary of a free local event I organised recently:
On Tuesday 21st Oct 2014 we ran the first event in support of ActionAid's Towns Against Tax Dodging Campaign.
Held in the Cypriot Community Centre in Wood Green, we showed a presentation on tax dodging, followed by discussion and brainstorming. We had a great turn out of around 25 people of all ages, who came to hear more about what we, as a community, can do to stop the widespread practice of tax avoidance.
It is currently estimated that the UK looses £12B each year to tax dodging. What's worse is the fact that developing countries loose three times more money than they receive in aid EVERY YEAR. This is something that cannot go on and needs to be properly addressed by any government that wants to be voted in next year.
For those of you who haven't heard of the campaign - we want to get as many people as possible to sign up and send a pre-written email to councillors asking them to pass a motion of support - it's really easy - all you have to do is type in your postcode on the website below. Also - very importantly - we want to sign up small businesses. If you sign your business up it will appear on our interactive map on the ActionAid website, which will be seen by thousands of people across the UK. All you need to do is fill in the short online form - or let me now you want to support us and I may be able to come down in person!
So far:
over 9000 people across the UK have emailed their councillors
including 70 people in Haringey
15 borough councils have passed motions
HARINGEY HASN'T - we need to change this.
As the Local Organiser for Haringey, I recently met with Councillor Anne Waters, to discuss passing a motion. It didn't sound promising but the council has the ability to pass a motion, we just need to persuade them that this is something worth speaking out about
- So - Next steps/plans are:
1. Organise a free screening of The UK Gold, a documentary film exposing the widespread use of tax havens by big companies and wealthy individuals to avoid paying tax.
2. Organising a group lobby of the Haringey Council leader - the more people that come, the better chance we have of applying pressure for the council to act. More than happy to meet up and have a cat with anyone interested in lobbying, one to one or as a group!
This about normal people in Haringey getting involved as a community, demanding that those who represent us realise that we are paying close attention to what's going on in the offshore world. In the run up to the general election there is no better time to get active.
Please don't hesitate to contact me on here or on sophie.actionaid@gmail.com if you have any questions or want more info ;)
Towns Against Tax Dodging Website:
http://www.townsagainsttaxdodging.org.uk/
To email your councillor:
http://campaigns.actionaid.org.uk/page/speakout/townsagainsttaxdodg...
The interactive map:
http://www.townsagainsttaxdodging.org.uk/map
Online form for businesses to sign up:
http://campaigns.actionaid.org.uk/page/s/townsagainsttaxdodging_bus...
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by 3j6anh5mwyoqp on
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I think it's adorable that young folk these days are focussing on the big issues.
But I do wonder if you have considered the audience.
The business people of Harringay have built their livelihoods on the cash economy. The benefactors of such centres you hold your meetings in are the entrepreneurial spirit of the area. That is to say, the cash economy (read: taxless) beneficiaries your are setting out to vilify.
And what would you have Haringey Council do? Ask that their Monaco or Cayman Island domiciled property developers volunteer a fraction of their revenue to the Exchequer? These struggling entrepreneurs have had to spend thousands wining and dining the doltish Councillors of Haringey. They have had to suffer their company over innumerable lunches and drinks parties. I think they have suffered enough.
But please do wander down Green Lanes and ask each of the cash businesses you see to sign up to your fight for transparency.
We would all love to see the trail of cash from our pockets through the tax-free businesses of Green Lanes and beyond.
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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on
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1. I think you would be better off making sure young people found it as easy to cast their votes as middle class Harringayites.
2. The best example I can find of tax dodging in Haringey is the provision of free car parking spaces for employees. I doubt they appear on P11ds.... What about what you've found?
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Permalink Reply by Michael Anderson on
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I find it really disheartening that when people get together to actually do something they are told that they would better of doing something else. If anyone thinks of a better idea please get off your computer and organise it.
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A far cop Michael.
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Permalink Reply by John D on
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" what we, as a community, can do to stop the widespread practice of tax avoidance. "
Stop paying cash in hand to businesses and builders/decorators, etc.
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Is the use of "avoidance" here just a "dodge" to avoid or evade saying "tax evasion"?
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Permalink Reply by Sophie on
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Hi,
I'm taking about tax avoidance and I also use the term tax dodging to refer to the same practice.
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When I talk about tax avoidance on here, I also use the term tax dodging - just in case that's not clear.
In the Towns Against Tax Dodging Campaign the focus on corporation tax, which is a tax on the taxable profits of limited companies and other organisations. The campaign targets are big companies, and wealthy individuals who, for example, set up shell companies to avoid paying tax. The focus is not small business owners or members of the public.
Large companies such as Boots, SAB Miller (they own Peroni and Grolsch) and Zambia Sugar have avoided paying huge sums in tax. These are just a couple of examples I am listing because ActionAid has done a lot of hard work looking into these companies.
The reason the focus is on big companies is because the financial losses to local communities, both locally and in developing countries, is huge - in the billions. Not only do developing countries loose money that could go towards improving health, building roads, or providing education, but the impact on small businesses is such that they struggle to compete.
Here in the UK, we loose billions in tax revenue by corporations, and yet we are facing cuts to our pubic services.
How can small businesses be expected to compete when there's a huge multi-national on the corner, who can afford to hire lawyers to find loopholes through which they can avoid paying tax?
The ActionAid campaign is encouraging people to email their councillors because we want to send a clear message that the public care enough about this issue to go and talk to their elected representatives. As I mentioned before, 15 borough councils have already passed motions of support. And we have more of a chance of getting Haringey council to pass a motion if we act as a community. This is something that affects us all.
I hope this covers some of the things commented on ;)
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