Archbishop of Canterbury speaks out over firms using tax havens

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/feb/04/archbishop-canterbury-firms-tax-havens-justin-welby

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The archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has intervened in the debate about responsible business and the use of tax havens, saying he wants companies to pay tax in the countries where they have generated their wealth.

Welby is due to give a speech on “the good economy” at a conference organised by the all-party parliamentary group on inclusive growth in London on Wednesday evening. Ed Miliband, the Labour leader, who is under pressure over claims that his responsible capitalism agenda is anti-business, is likely to find some comfort in the archbishop’s remarks.

Before his speech, Welby said: “There has always been the principle that you pay the tax where you earn the money and if you earn the money in a particular country the revenue service of that country needs to get a fair share of what you have earned.”

Calling for a simplification of a tax system that he said was of biblical proportions, he told the BBC: “We have got this unbelievably complex tax system internationally and in most countries.”

He said a simplified tax system would mean people “are responsible in the right place. It goes back to the very basic principle as a Christian. We see Jesus Christ spoke of people paying what is due. The Bible speaks of it endlessly.”

Welby added: “We need to affirm the significance of those that generate and create wealth but we also need to be realistic about the fact and again this goes back hundreds of years.

“Adam Smith spoke about it: with wealth comes power and with power comes a temptation to misuse power. There is a reality of the human condition.”