Banks enable tax avoidance on a large scale via the Netherlands
At the end of last year, ABN AMRO and ING had financial relationships with at least 17 companies that actively avoid taxes through the Netherlands. ABN AMRO was even directly involved in the tax avoidance structure at 7 of these companies, ING at 4. These banks therefore play a major role in tax avoidance via the Netherlands.
Rabobank and Van Lanschot Kempen had financial relationships with a smaller number of companies that avoid taxes. Bunq, NIBC, Triodos Bank and de Volksbank are not involved. This is evident from new research by the Fair Bank Guide that examined the financial relationships of Dutch banks with 26 tax-avoiding companies from 2019 to the end of 2023.
Tax Justice Network estimates that 46 billion euros in global taxes are avoided by multinationals through the Netherlands. This puts the Netherlands in 4th place in the global tax haven rankings. Taxes are essential for important public services such as hospitals and schools. Due to tax avoidance, these facilities are under pressure in the Netherlands, but also in poorer countries. For example, developing countries miss out on almost half of their annual public health budget due to lower tax revenues.
Companies that avoid taxes do not act alone, but receive the help of lawyers, accountants and banks. Our research shows that ABN AMRO has the most financial relationships with 17 of the 26 companies examined that have proven tax avoidance via the Netherlands. ING also scores poorly, with 27 financial relationships with the same number of companies. Rabobank has 3 connections with 1 company and Van Lanschot Kempen is involved in 6 ways with 4 tax-avoiding companies. The other 4 banks, bunq, NIBC, Triodos Bank and De Volksbank are not involved. The 26 companies investigated have previously been in the news in connection with tax avoidance via the Netherlands in the period 2019-2023.
Barbara Oosters, spokesperson for the Fair Bank Guide: "Tax avoidance via the Netherlands has been a major problem for a long time. That is why it is incomprehensible that ABN AMRO and ING still play such an active role in tax avoidance by multinationals. When there are so many financial relationships with companies that are known to be guilty of tax avoidance, then there is something really wrong with how these banks function. I'm afraid this is just the tip of the iceberg. Due to a lack of transparency among companies and banks, it is difficult to find out how tax avoidance structures are set up and financed. The government and De Nederlandsche Bank as supervisor must investigate this further and ensure that this stops.”
A company that is guilty of large-scale tax avoidance is the Indian company Airtel, a major telecom provider in many African countries, including Uganda. Airtel's Ugandan profits end up in an anonymous business premises in Amsterdam West. Airtel is abusing a tax treaty between the Netherlands and Uganda through several Dutch letterbox companies. The unpaid tax revenue in Uganda could have paid the annual salaries of twenty thousand Ugandan teachers. ABN AMRO invests in Airtel through its investment company ABN AMRO Investment Solutions. Moreover, Airtel's Dutch BV banks with both ABN AMRO and ING, which means that the banks enable this tax avoidance by Airtel.
“This research should be a wake-up call for Dutch banks such as ING and ABN AMRO. They must screen their business customers, hold them accountable for their tax practices, demand transparent tax reporting per country and sever financial relationships in the event of persistent abuses,” says Oosters. “Rabobank and Van Lanschot Kempen also have to get to work. Because every tax avoidance structure via the Netherlands is one too many.”
ENDS
Note to the editor:
For more information, please contact Oxfam Novib press officer Jules van Os, Tel: 0651573683 jules.van.os@oxfamnovib.nl.
Barbara Oosters, spokesperson for Fair Bank Guide, is available for interviews.
This research was carried out for the Fair Bank Guide by Diensten J.M. Hietland and enclosed under embargo.
The Fair Bank Guide is a partnership between Amnesty International, Milieudefensie, Oxfam Novib, PAX and World Animal Protection.
At https://www.eerlijkebankwijzer.nl, consumers can compare the sustainability scores of banks. They can also take action, for example by sending a complaint or compliment to their bank.
