Barbados and other jurisdictions in the region are being told that now is the opportune time to push for emancipation from current unfair global tax regimes being led by powerful international bodies.This advice has come from Chief Executive of the advocacy group Tax Justice Network Alex Cobham, who noted that while there seemed to be some progress towards the development of new global standards that could include developing nations, there was “still a long way to go”.“We know the OECD [Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development] itself has been leading opposition but the prize is there in front of us, perhaps over the next two to three years, for countries all around the world to engage in trying to claim back the tax sovereignty, the right to be an effective state and to deliver for their people which this system and bits of this system have stripped away,” said Cobham.“This is the moment to undo that, to decolonise, if you like, the tax system. And if we miss this chance, I don’t know when it will come again. I guess it is a call to everyone to say ‘what are your policymakers doing, are they engaged, what are they asking for, how much effort are they putting into this?’ because this is a window that won’t stay open for that long,” he cautioned.
