Maya Forstater

Really interesting blog Duncan. My personal view is that different campaigns are needed at different stages. For raising awareness, the “big picture” campaigns focusing on major companies were very effective (even if I disagreed with some of the detail). 1/n

However, once that awareness has been raised, I think the focus needs to move to what will be most effective at a local level. 2/n

I think the continued focus on “tax dodging by multinationals” risks efforts being concentrated in an area where the resources needed by local fiscs can easily be overstretched. A focus on DRM, as in the @actionaid campaign, may be a better use of resources 3/n

For example, a TP enquiry into a major MNC requires a lot of resource & sophisticated analysis, and may not produce much (or any) tax at the end of the day. Merely having the CbC data is just a first step to collecting tax 4/n

Furthermore the sums which can potentially be collected from MNCs in a particular country may be less than assumed - see detailed analysis by @MForstater for @CGDev 5/n

Simpler legislative measures such as WHT on royalties, excise taxes on mineral extraction or deemed profit margins for TP purposes may be more cost-effective IMO. 5/n

(Sorry that last one should have been 6/n - the perils of trying to write on a train) 7/n

Above all, practical measures need to be discussed with the local tax authority and if possible local business and professionals, to find solutions that work on the ground. 8/n