UK Uncut Legal Action

Taking legal action against the cuts

Support

UK Uncut Legal Action sign-on statement of support:

The UK is facing £107 billion in spending cuts by 2015. The cuts have already resulted in millions of people across the UK losing their jobs, homes,benefits and public services. This country cannot afford for rich companies and individuals to continue to dodge billions in tax- billions that could be used to fund the same vital services being cut by the government.It is estimated that £25 billion is lost annually to tax avoidance by corporations and the super-rich. One of the most recent examples of this egregious practice occurred when Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs(HMRC) allegedly made a decision that allowed global banking giant Goldman Sachs to avoid paying up to £20 million in tax.It is alleged that the US investment bank avoided paying interest on tax payments following a secret deal with HMRC which contravened HMRC’s own policies and procedures. We believe that this dodgy deal was unlawful

It is imperative that the UK’s political and business culture changes so that rich individuals and corporations such as Goldman Sachs treat tax avoidance as taboo rather than a normal and acceptable means of maximising profits.We therefore support the action being taken by UK Uncut Legal Action to challenge HMRC in the High Court so that their decision to let Goldman Sachs off its unpaid tax is quashed and the £20 million is given back to the taxpayer. It is undeniably in the public interest that this important case should go through the UK courts in order to ensure transparency, accountability and fairness.

Tax justice and the eradication of tax havens are crucial to achieving fairness and equality in the UK and around the world and provide an alternative to the economics of austerity. If the government was serious about clamping down on tax avoidance and tackled it head-on, the UK could raise sufficient income to protect the services currently under threat from the government’s programme of cuts and set an international standard for tax justice.

- Nicholas Shaxson, author of Treasure Islands: Tax Havens and the Men Who Stole the World
- Richard Murphy, Director, Tax Research
- Clifford Singer, False Economy
- Neal Lawson, Chair, Compass
- Greg Muttitt, Campaigns & Policy Director, War on Want
- Deborah Doane, Director, World Development Movement
- John Christensen, Director, Tax Justice Network
- Nicholas Hildyard, Sarah Sarah and Larry Lohmann, The Corner House
- Adam Ramsay, People and Planet
- Katy Clark MP
- Virendra Sharma MP
- Jeremy Corbyn MP
- John McDonnell MP
- Caroline Lucas MP
- Grahame Morris MP
- Diane Abbott MP
- GMB, Paul Kenny, General Secretary
- PCS, Mark Serwotka, General Secretary
- UNITE, Len McCluskey, General Secretary
- NUT, Christine Blower, General Secretary

Please write to your MP and ask them to sign EDM 2562 UK Uncut Legal Action

You can find out who your MP is and contact them here

Early Day Motion 2562 UK Uncut Legal Action

That this House supports UK Uncut Legal Action’s initiative to challenge HM Revenue and Customs in the High Court so that its alleged decision to let Goldman Sachs off its unpaid tax is quashed and the 10 to 20 million that Goldman Sachs owes is given back to the taxpayer; asserts that it is undeniably in the public interest that this important case should go through the UK courts in order to ensure transparency, accountability and fairness; notes that whilst the National Audit Office investigation into tax disputes is welcome, a legal review is the only process that can result in both the declaration that the Goldman Sachs tax deal was unlawful and potentially quash the deal, meaning that the millions lost could be returned to the public purse; further notes that an estimated 25 billion is lost annually to tax avoidance by corporations and the super-rich; maintains that tax justice and the eradication of tax havens are therefore crucial to achieving fairness and equality in the UK and around the world and provide an alternative to the economics of austerity; and calls on the Government to make a concerted effort to clamp down on tax avoidance in order to raise the income the UK needs to protect services currently under threat from the cuts programme and set an international standard for tax justice.

 

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