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BU expert reacts to G20 tax debate

1 April 2009

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown with US President Barack Obama

BU Senior Lecturer Richard Teather has criticised the Prime Minister’s tax proposal as ‘short sighted’.

As world leaders converge in London for the G20 Summit, a BU tax academic has criticised Gordon Brown’s proposals to crack-down on tax havens such as Jersey and Switzerland.

Richard Teather, Senior Lecturer in Tax Law in BU’s Business School has described the measures as ‘short-sighted’ saying: “Public finances are under massive pressure, with governments running up unimaginably huge debts.

“They would love to raise taxes, but they mustn't because that will tip even more businesses over the edge and make the recession even worse. So instead they are getting tough on ‘tax avoidance’.

“That may sound reasonable, but in fact it is just another way of squeezing more cash out of businesses. Companies are already fleeing to Ireland to escape the UK government's crackdown, and the danger is that all the innovative companies that we need to pull us out of recession will go elsewhere."

The G20 countries, who represent 85% of the world’s output, are meeting to discuss ways to restore global economic growth against the backdrop of the worst international banking crisis in generations.