For years, governments have repeated the same refrain: “There is not enough money!”
Not enough to fund climate action. Not enough to provide healthcare. Not enough for education and training teachers, among many other critical needs.
But the latest report from the Tax Justice Network shows that there is enough money. So where exactly does the problem lie?
It is simply sitting in the wrong hands.
Between 2016 and 2021, countries around the world lost over $475 billion in corporate tax revenue due to a US-backed global gag order that prevents governments from revealing which multinational corporations are shifting profits into tax havens.
This lost tax revenue is more than what is needed for the $300 billion global climate finance fund promised in 2024.
What Is the Global Gag Order?
The global gag order is about certain rules that stop countries from speaking up about multinational companies.
These companies move their profits from where they are based to low or no tax countries called tax havens.
This secrecy means the public, journalists, and even many governments themselves cannot know which corporations are cheating the system. The gag order has allowed big corporations to hide their wealth behind complicated financial systems, depriving societies of the resources they need to thrive.
U.S. Corporations at the Heart of Global Tax Abuse
According to the Tax Justice Network report, the primary driver of global corporate tax losses is the dramatic escalation in tax abuse by U.S. multinational corporations. The trend began after Donald Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which slashed corporate tax rates and made it easier for U.S. firms to move profits around the world.
Ironically, while U.S. corporations are shifting twice as much profit out of foreign countries and into the U.S., they are paying even less tax at home than before Trump’s tax cuts.
As a result, U.S. multinationals are responsible for 29% of all corporate tax losses globally!
America: The Architect and the Victim
It might come as a surprise, but the biggest victim of this U.S-backed secrecy regime is the United States itself. From 2016 to 2021, the U.S. lost $158.5 billion in tax revenue due to multinational profit shifting.
Other nations have also suffered deeply:
- France: $32.3 billion
- Germany: $30.3 billion
- India: $24.4 billion
- United Kingdom: $14.8 billion
- Mexico: $12.5 billion
- South Africa: $2.8 billion
Each dollar lost means fewer hospitals, underfunded schools, lower public sector wages, and less climate investment.
The United Nations Steps In
This month, representatives from around the world will gather in Nairobi to continue negotiations on a world-first United Nations Tax Convention, a treaty that could reshape the global tax system and restore countries’ tax sovereignty, their right to decide how and from whom they collect tax.
This UN process is a turning point. On one hand, the Trump administration and its corporate allies want to go back to a “might makes right” approach, where only the country where a company is based gets to tax it.
On the other side, the UN Tax Convention suggests a fairer system. Companies should pay taxes in proportion to all the countries where they actually do business and make profits.
This would replace the century-old “pay where you say” system with a “pay where you play” system. Making sure taxes are paid where real business happens, not where clever accounting moves profits.
Transparency Is Key!
Experts agree that lifting the global gag order is a necessary first step.
This would involve implementing public country-by-country reporting, a system that requires every multinational corporation to publicly disclose how much profit it makes and how much tax it pays in each country.
Currently, some companies such as Philips, Lush, Iberdrola, and Watches of Switzerland have voluntarily adopted this transparency. But for most global giants, from Apple, Amazon, and Google to Shell and Nestlé, the data remains hidden.
Public disclosure would not just expose abuse; it would create fair competition. As economist Jayati Ghosh of the University of Massachusetts Amherst explains, “Making multinationals publicly disclose their country-by-country reports would increase tax revenues and curb tax abuse without changing any laws.”
The Human Cost of Corporate Secrecy
The consequences of this secrecy go far beyond budgets.
According to Human Rights Watch, the loss of tax revenue is a human rights crisis. Even countries with economic growth struggle to invest in education, healthcare, and social protection because corporations are draining public funds through tax avoidance.
Earlier research has linked corporate tax abuse and weakened fiscal sovereignty to over 60,000 preventable deaths among children under five every year.
As HRW’s Sarah Saadoun put it, “Governments are pushed to rely on taxes that hit the poorest hardest, even as the world’s richest corporations amass fortunes larger than national budgets.”
Corporate Power vs. Public Interest
Workers’ unions, economists, and activists around the world are calling for more transparency and reforms.
Daniel Bertossa from Public Services International criticized the “tax secrecy” supported by billionaires, saying “Trump and his friends protect tax secrecy, so companies can keep making big profits, while saying there’s no money for health, education, or higher wages.”
In Europe, countries like Australia, France, and Germany have started to fight this secrecy by creating or discussing public reporting laws.
Even so, many of the world’s most profitable companies, especially those based in the U.S. still work hard to block such transparency.
A Global Choice: Subjugation or Sovereignty
At the center of this struggle lies a fundamental question:
Who controls the world’s wealth? Democratic governments or multinational corporations?
As Alex Cobham, CEO of the Tax Justice Network, put it:
“We are all being plundered at a catastrophic rate, but instead of Vikings raiding villages, it is U.S. corporations quietly robbing our treasuries, including that of the U.S. itself.”
He calls this a defining moment: one path leads to tax subjugation under corporate power, and the other to collective defense of tax sovereignty through the UN.
Reclaiming Our Future
The Tax Justice Network and human rights advocates propose three urgent steps to rebuild fairness.
-
End the global gag order
Make corporate country-by-country reporting public worldwide.
-
Adopt a unitary tax system
Ensure that corporations pay taxes where they genuinely operate and make profits, not where they hide them.
-
Support the UN Tax Convention
We need a fair system that lets every country collect its fair share of taxes. For years, people have struggled while big corporations hid their money in tax havens.
This is a fight for justice, climate and democracy.
Right now, the question changed from “Can we afford climate action?” or “Can we fund public healthcare?” to “Will we have the courage to lift the veil of secrecy and reclaim what is rightfully ours?”
Conclusion: Take Back Control
In the end, the fight against global gag order goes beyond numbers or taxes, it is a fight for justice, transparency and the future we all deserve.
Every dollar hidden in tax havens is a dollar stolen from hospitals, schools and climate solutions.
Ending secrecy and ensuring fair taxes is a matter of justice. The world can afford progress, if we have the courage to demand accountability and make corporations pay their fair share.
Sources
Contact us
"*" indicates required fields
