Sharon Horder is a Policy, Advocacy and Campaigns Administrator at ActionAid and Florence de Vesvrotte is a Government Relations Advisor at ActionAid

We’re all familiar with corporate tax dodging scandals, with stories hitting the headlines regularly. Currently, the UK loses billions of pounds to corporate tax dodging, while developing countries lose an estimated $160 billion. 

Incredibly, much of the tax dodging is legal. Britain’s tax regime enables big companies to dodge tax and still offers expensive and economically questionable tax breaks for many large businesses. This corporate tax dodging is unfair – nearly everyone is losing out when large companies get away without paying their fair share – and has to change.

While senior figures from across the parties have committed to doing more, the public remain unconvinced that this is sufficient. A recent poll showed:

• 80% of British adults agree it is too easy for large companies in the UK to avoid paying tax. 

• Just one in five people (20%) believe political parties have gone far enough in their promises to tackle tax avoidance by large companies.

• 78% say that it is important to them that large UK companies pay their fair share of tax in developing countries in which they operate.

Yesterday, a coalition of organisations called on all UK political parties to pledge to introduce a Tax Dodging Bill in the first 100 days after the 2015 General Election. The Tax Dodging Bill would: 

1. Make it harder for big companies to dodge UK taxes and make sure they are not getting unjustified tax breaks, by ensuring that foreign multinationals can’t use tax havens to avoid their fair share of tax in the UK and by rigorously reviewing tax breaks;

2. Ensure UK tax rules don’t incentivise UK companies to avoid tax in developing countries, by toughening up the UK’s anti-tax haven rules and reviewing other tax rules; 

3. Make the UK tax regime more transparent and tougher on tax dodging, by requiring companies to publish their taxes, profits and other key data for each country where they do business.

Whoever comes to power must provide a systematic, joined-up approach that will put an end to tax dodging. We estimate that a well-crafted Tax Dodging Bill could bring in at least £3.6 billion a year to the UK treasury - the equivalent of £600 for every household living below the poverty line – as well as billions of pounds a year for developing countries - which could be spent on schools, hospitals and other essential services. 

As manifestos are prepared, it’s time for parties to act.