At a critical time when tax revenues are gravely needed to fund essential public services and meet sustainable development targets, anti-poor tax policies and illicit financial flows have only deepened widespread inequalities within and among countries in the world.
Read and download the manifesto:
Lidy Nacpil of the Asian Peoples’ Movement on Debt and Development (center) presses for new tax rules to be negotiated in a proposed United Nations Tax Body. Labor Leader Ka Leody De Guzman (left) calls for the scrapping of VAT and institution of a wealth tax in the country. Sanlakas Secretary General, Atty. Aaron Pedrosa, moderated the press conference.
The Asian Peoples’ Movement on Debt and Development (APMDD) today slammed the 15% minimum global corporate tax rate jointly proposed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), G7, and G20, calling it the “tax deal of the rich” and instead called for the creation of a tax body under the United Nations (UN).
“Under the guise of, or pretending to be helpful as part of COVID-19 and multiple crises responses, the OECD, which is the organization of 37 wealthiest countries in the world, in collusion with the G7 and G20, are now putting forward and promoting a tax deal that will actually result in more benefits for corporations and governments of wealthy countries rather than the Global South,” APMDD coordinator Lidy Nacpil said.
“We are taking this occasion to express our rejection because in a few hours, the G20 will be convening its summit, and this is an important time to raise our voices,” she added.
This document is an introductory briefing of the Financing for Development (FfD) process and of the Civil Society FfD Mechanism’s role in it.
By guiding readers through the UN Financing for Development world, it shines a light onto how shaping decision-making on global economic governance at the UN has the potential to transform our global economic systems to reduce inequalities within and between countries and make them work for people and the planet.
This guide was developed based on collective work by the Civil Society FfD (Financing for Development) Group, and is available in Arabic, English, French, German, Spanish and Russian.
From 23 to 24 September 2021, APMDD members were mobilised to participate in Global Days of Action for Tax Justice (see also the video montage here).
This included actions in several countries. In India, activists participated in a photo action, candlelight march, human chain, and the press statement “India should stop this race to the bottom of corporate taxation” was released. Plus, a photo action took place in Bangladesh, and a photo action by fisherfolk and a press conference was organised in Pakistan
During the 76th session of the UN General Assembly on 14-30 September 2021, the Asian Peoples’ Movement on Debt and Development (APMDD) strongly urged governments in Asia to reject the OECD-G7-G20’s “tax deal of the rich” and heed civil society demands for democratic, inclusive, and transformative global tax architecture.
This video was shot during the Days of Action for Tax Justice on 23-24 September 2021.
The COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts presented a historical opportunity to reform tax and fiscal systems, including global tax rules, to make them work for people and the planet. Tax policies should serve to reduce inequalities, not exacerbate them. Global tax rules should not be biased in favor of elite countries and MNCs’ profit driven agendas. Global tax rules should help to reduce inequalities within and across countries, and “no one should be left behind” in rule making. As representatives of 193 member-states of the United Nations gathered for the 76th session of the UN General Assembly on 14-30 September 2021, the Asian Peoples’ Movement on Debt and Development (APMDD) and allies reiterated their call to make taxes work for women!
This comic strip is inspired by real stories of APMDD members across the region. As COVID-19 lockdowns brought already marginalized communities to extreme crises of survival, people came together in the spirit of solidarity. Community pantries and kitchens, the delivery of basic necessities to the elderly and others who must keep indoors, among other community-led initiatives, are testament to peoples’ solidarity.
People’s solidarity, however strong and effective, is not a substitute for the State’s responsibility to provide essential public services, especially amidst widening inequalities in Asia. People living in extreme poverty, barely affording a single meal in a day, are estimated to have increased to over 100 million in Asia. Gender inequalities have also deepened with heavier demands on women to provide a disproportionate amount of time on unpaid care work in the midst of greater female unemployment and widening gender wage gaps. Ironically, Asia and the Pacific has also seen rapid growth in wealth by individuals and corporations amounting to over US$ 7.5 billion in 2020 alone.
Participants to the Webinar – Inequalities, Public Services and Tax Justice made the sign for equality to cap off a two-hour session that brought together organizations and communities in the frontlines of fighting inequalities and most affected by failing public services and loss of public revenues due to flawed fiscal and tax systems. Over 110 attended the webinar, and learnt about how to strengthen campaigns on tax and fiscal justice especially in light of developments in global, regional, and domestic policy-making.
The webinar aimed to:
• Surface some of the most pressing issues faced by marginalised sectors and communities in the context of failing public services and deepening inequalities;
• Highlight the systemic barriers to making public services accessible and responsive to people’s needs and rights, drawing the links to gaps and flaws in fiscal and tax systems;
• Discuss and collectively analyze key developments in national, regional, and global policy fronts that impact inequalities and people’s access and right to public services; and,
• Facilitate sharing of strategies for advancing tax and fiscal justice agenda, with a focus on public services.
In response to the Communique of the G20 Finance Ministers Meeting held in Venice on 9-10 July 2021, Asian Peoples’ Movement on Debt and Development (APMDD) Coordinator Lidy Nacpil said that in regard to climate, debt, and tax, the statement is underwhelming and fails to offer any indication that the demands of peoples of the Global South are heard.
