"'Tax isn't just an expense, it's a societal good and an investment in all our futures'", 13 Mar 2017

IN ALL THE chatter about tax avoidance by Apple and other multinationals, it is easy to ignore what corporate tax is all about...Many believe that tax is an inconvenience, a business expense to be minimised at all costs...It is in part tied up in the ideology that companies are creators of jobs...and should not be constrained by having to pay taxes.  However, there is a different way of looking at taxation, one that puts citizens above corporate gains.  This is about raising revenue to fund human rights-related expenditures.  It funds our schools, our hospitals, our judiciary and all the other public services we depend on as a society.  It is particularly important for developing countries, which according to the IMF lose between $200 and $300bn to corporate tax avoidance each year, far in excess of what they receive in aid...If we were serious about the redistributive aspect of taxation, would almost 250,000 children be living in poverty around Ireland?...It’s time...to consider tax not as an expense, but as a societal good and an investment in all our futures.