1 in 3 Ugandans Live on $1.25 Per Day
on Sunday, July 10, 2016Panama Papers Money Quote saying In Uganda a company that wanted to sell prospective oil field paid Mossack Fonseca to help it avoid four hundred million dollars in taxes. Panama Papers ICIJ Video:
It was simple paperwork, the company’s address was changed from one tax haven to another. In a country where one in three people live on less than a dollar twenty-five a day, four hundred million dollars represents more than the governments annual health budget — Panama Papers ICIJ Video
Uganda spent years in court trying to force the company to pay its taxes.
In this quote from an ICIJ video about the Panama Papers, they are contrasting the ease with which a company can shift its address to a tax haven, with the severe poverty experienced by many in that country.
It notes that simply by changing paperwork, the company moved to a different offshore jurisdiction. It then provides perspective on the large sum of $400 million, saying this represents more money than the government’s entire annual health budget, in a country where one in three people live on less than $1.25 per day.
The video is implicitly criticizing how the wealthy and corporations can legally avoid taxes through offshore havens, while many citizens of the country struggle in poverty, lacking adequate access to healthcare and other services due to limited public resources.