ActionAid, Christian Aid and Oxfam, as well as other NGOs, think tanks, legal commentators, the former UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights and many others have proposed that tax behaviour should no longer be treated in isolation from companies’ other commitments to sustainable development under, for example, the United Nations Global Compact initiative.
Nor, the argument goes, should tax practices remain outside the “corporate responsibility to respect human rights” outlined in the UN Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights (UNGPs).
This means that companies are increasingly expected to manage their tax arrangements in a manner which respects human rights principles, even where it means abandoning or rejecting tax arrangements or practices that are technically lawful.
…As challenging as the journey will be, it’s time to place tax management squarely at the heart of responsible and truly sustainable business. Human rights due diligence that also considers corporate tax behaviour will allow companies to make decisions on a more informed and sustainable basis…
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