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Episode details

World Service,22 May 2013,28 mins

Europe pledges action on tax

World Business Report

Available for over a year

Leaders of the European Union have pledged action to crack down on tax avoidance and evasion, which is estimated to cost the continent upwards of 1.3 trillion dollars a year. Meanwhile as the row grows over tax avoidance by multinational firms, the head of Google Eric Schmidt said it was up to governments, not companies, to decide tax policies. We ask how likely reform is - and how easy it would be. We also hear from the charity Oxfam, who say individuals using tax havens are depriving the developed and developing world of huge amounts of cash. Also we speak to the German software developer SAP, which has pledged to hire hundreds of people with autism. Also will India opt for private or public healthcare to improve the lives of its citizens - and who are the world's most powerful women?

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