VOA慢速英语:Campaigners are Calling for the Wrld's Richest Countries to End Tax Havens

Demonstrators recently protested outside the British Treasury to call on the world's richest countries to end so called tax havens. These tax haven policies allow companies to move their profits to countries with lower taxes. An investigation found that this practice costs Africa alone $38 billion a year in lost taxes. Former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan led the investigation.
示威者最近在英国财政部外举行抗议，呼吁世界最发达国家结束所谓的避税港。这些避税港政策使得公司将利润转入低税收的国家，调查显示仅非洲每年就要损失3800亿美元的税收。联合国前秘书长科菲•安南（Kofi Annan）领导这项调查。

The demonstrators at the Treasury called on Chancellor George Osborne to discuss the practice with finance ministers from other wealthy countries. Melanie Ward is spokesperson for the 'Enough For Everyone If' campaign.
英国财政部外的示威者呼吁英国财政大臣George Osborne与其它富裕国家的财长讨论一下这种做法。Melanie Ward是“如果人人知足”运动的发言人。

"I think a lot of people here in the U.K. and around the world are fed up with tax dodging. They are fed up with a system where the rich and powerful play by a different set of rules to everybody else."
“我想，无论是英国还是其他国家的人们都已受够了避税，他们讨厌这个允许富人和有权势者遵循与众不同规则的制度。”

Ronen Palan is a professor at City University London. Professor Palan says tax havens and no-tax countries like Ireland are popular, because companies and wealthy individuals can save money.
Ronen Palan是伦敦城市大学的教授。Palan教授说，像爱尔兰这样的避税港和无税国家很受欢迎，这是因为公司和富人可能在这里省钱。

"These countries offer very low taxation, either to corporations or to individuals. And specifically they target non-residents."
“这些国家向公司或个人提供极地的税制，但这并不针对居民。”

But critics of tax havens say big companies transfer profits out of the very countries on which they and their wealth depend.
但避税天堂的批评者表示，大公司将利润从它们所依赖的国家转出。

"Africa exported about $1 trillion of capital in the last 30 years whereas inward investment in terms of FDI [Foreign Direct Investment] or aid is about $300 billion.  So Africa is losing capital.  Africa, or sub-Saharan Africa, is actually funding development elsewhere."
“过去30年间非洲输出了近一万亿美元的资本，而引入的外国直接投资或援助只有3000亿美元，因此非洲是在丧失资本。非洲或撒哈拉以南非洲实际上是在资助其它地方的发展。”

But charity ActionAid says the brewing company SABMiller uses a complex system of tax havens. It says this system moves profits out of the company's operations in developing countries like Ghana. SABMiller denies any tax abuses. It says in 2010 it paid about $250 million in corporate taxes in India and sub-Saharan Africa. ActionAid also accuses an Associated British Foods of using its subsidiary companies to reduce its taxes in Zambia by millions of dollars. Associated British Foods says the accusations are "incomplete at best and factually wrong in places."
慈善行动救援组织说，酿酒公司南非米勒使用一套复杂的避税港体系。称这种体系将该公司在诸如加纳这样的发展中国家获得的利润转出，南非米勒公司否则有逃税行为，称2010年在印度和撒哈拉南部非洲缴纳了约2.5亿美元的税收。行动救援组织还指责英国联合食品公司使用子公司在赞比亚减少了数百万美元的税收。英国联合食品公司表示，这些指责“至少是不完整的，与事实不符”。

Mark Littlewood is Director General of the Institute for Economic Affairs in London. He argues that tax havens help the global economy by increasing investment.
Mark Littlewood是伦敦经济事务研究所总监。他认为，避税天堂通过增加投资帮助全球经济。

"This idea that, sort of, Western companies that are tax efficient are exploiting these places rather than bringing inward investment to them, I think, is a rather neo-imperialist old style way of looking at the world.  We want more of that inward investment.  That creates jobs and creates growth in some of the poorest countries in the world."
“这种说法认为避税的西方国家公司在剥削这些地方，而不是给其带来投资，而我认为这是一种新帝国主义的旧眼光来看待世界。我们希望更多的外来投资，这可以在世界上一些最贫穷的国家创造就业机会和提升增长。”

Leaders of the G8 countries meet in Britain next month. British Prime Minister David Cameron has promised to include the issue of tax havens in their summit meeting.
八国集团国家领导人下月将在英国会面。英国首相戴维•卡梅伦已经承诺在峰会上讨论避税天堂问题。