A NEW report on how to get big companies to pay their taxes was recently launched during a meeting at Redditch Town Hall.

The report, A New Earth... by law professor Sol Picciotto was presented to Redditch Mayor Joe Baker, who was also given a copy for the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby who visited the town the same day (Saturday, October 8).

The conference entitled 'Rob the Poor to Pay the Rich' was organised by Redditch One World Link and the British Tanzania Society.

Reverend David Haslam of Evesham, the convenor of the Methodist Tax Justice Network, who published the booklet, was also a speaker.

The booklet, with a foreword by Paul Brannen MEP outlines the defects in international tax laws, and how to replace them with something fairer for rich and poor countries alike.

It recognises that taxes are essential for crucial public services and welfare systems from which we all benefit but it also states that it is easy for multinational corporations and wealthy individuals to shift profits to low-tax havens.

Professor Picciotto proposes a system of unitary taxation, in which all subsidiaries of a multinational corporation would be brought together and profits consolidated.

These would be divided between the countries where the company operates by a formula which reflects its real economic presence, based on employee numbers and sales.

A New Earth... is available from MTJN as a downloadable PDF from their website, methodisttaxjusticenetwork.nationbuilder.com/resources, or physical copies can be ordered from mtjncoordinator@gmail.com, at a price of £1 per copy.