Ljubljana - Slovenia loses US$213.9 million in tax revenue a year because of tax abuse, an international study shows. The 2020 report assessed that multinational companies transfer US$973 million from the country to tax havens to avoid paying tax, which means US$97 million less revenue for the state.

On a global level, tax abuse by multinational companies and avoidance by rich individuals is costing countries US$427 billion a year in lost revenue, shows the study by the Tax Justice Network, Public Services International and Global Alliance for Tax Justice.

This is possible because US$1,380 billion of profit is being transferred from the countries where the profit was generated into tax havens, said Slovenian NGO Ekvilib Institute, which is a member of the Global Alliance for Tax Justice.

Countries with higher revenue account for 98% of tax losses, which costs all countries around the world US$419 billion a year. Countries with lower revenue annually lose 5.8% of their total tax revenue, while those with higher revenue on average lose only 2.5%.

The report suggests Slovenia annually loses US$214 million (EUR 181 million) in revenue because of tax abuse. Multinational corporations account for US$973 million (EUR 822 million), causing a direct loss of revenue in the amount of US$97 million according to data obtained by the OECD, while rich individuals contribute US$117 million (EUR 99 million) to the loss.

According to Ekvilib, the State of Tax Justice 2020 is a first-of-its-kind annual report that delivers data on how much each country loses due to tax abuse by companies and individuals.

"While previous studies on the amount of global tax abuse had to deal with the fog of financial secrecy surrounding taxes of multinationals, the latest study analyses data which the biggest multinationals themselves reported to tax authorities and which OECD recently published," the NGO said.

But the International Monetary Fund estimates that the actual figures for corporate tax losses are at least three times bigger than what is being detected by the OECD.

In Slovenia, the money lost due to tax abuse equals the annual pay of 4,848 nurses, and on the global level it equals 34 million annual nurses' wages.

The authors of the report were joined by Ekvilib and NGO Focus, which is also a member of the Global Alliance for Tax Justice, in their call for measures to prevent tax abuse.