Global Tax Fairness

Thomas Pogge · Krishen Mehta

Feb 2016 · Oxford University Press

About this ebook

This book addresses sixteen different reform proposals that are urgently needed to correct the fault lines in the international tax system as it exists today, and which deprive both developing and developed countries of critical tax resources. It offers clear and concrete ideas on how the reforms can be achieved and why they are important for a more just and equitable global system to prevail. The key to reducing the tax gap and consequent human rights deficit in poor countries is global financial transparency. Such transparency is essential to curbing illicit financial flows that drain less developed countries of capital and tax revenues, and are an impediment to sustainable development. A major break-through for financial transparency is now within reach. The policy reforms outlined in this book not only advance tax justice but also protect human rights by curtailing illegal activity and making available more resources for development. While the reforms are realistic they require both political and an informed and engaged civil society that can put pressure on governments and policy makers to act.

About the author

Thomas Pogge is Leitner Professor of Philosophy and International Affairs and founding Director of the Global Justice Program at Yale. He holds part-time positions at King's College, London and the Universities of Oslo and Central Lancashire. Professor Pogge is a member of the Norwegian Academy of Science as well as President of Academics Stand Against Poverty (ASAP), an international network aiming to enhance the impact of scholars, teachers, and students on global poverty, and of Incentives for Global Health, a team effort toward developing a complement to the pharmaceutical patent regime that would improve access to advanced medicines for the poor worldwide (www.healthimpactfund.org). Professor Pogge's recent publications include Politics as Usual (Polity, 2010); World Poverty and Human Rights (Polity, 2008); John Rawls: His Life and Theory of Justice (Oxford, 2007); and Freedom from Poverty as a Human Right (Oxford & UNESCO, 2007). Krishen Mehta is a former partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers, and worked with them for almost 30 years in their NY, London, and Tokyo offices. He is an engineer by training, has an MBA, and is a Chartered Accountant. He serves on the Asia Advisory Council of Human Rights Watch, is on the Advisory Council of Aspen Institute's Business and Society Program, is Senior Adviser to the Tax Justice Network, and is a Senior Global Justice Fellow at Yale University.