听力文本

From VOA Learning English, this is the Economics Report.

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.

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.

"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."

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.

"These countries offer very low taxation, either to corporations or to individuals. And specifically they target non-residents."

But critics of tax havens say big companies transfer profits out of the very countries on which they and their wealth depend.

"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."

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."

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.

"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."

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.

And that's the Economics Report from VOA learning English. I'm Mario Ritter.

文本为51VOA听写整理

译文属可可原创，仅供学习交流使用，未经许可请勿转载

词汇解释

1.dodge vi. 躲避，避开 vt. 躲避，避开

We accused her of dodging her taxes.
我们责骂她逃税ITU4Q,IS;lC#~f*-mD。

2.inward adj. 向内的；内部的；精神的；本质上的；熟悉的 adv. 向内；内心里

Her calm expression hid her inward panic.
她平静的外表掩盖了内心的恐慌Xr)wd+*,[HtP~o22。

3.fed up with 受够了；极厌恶；对……厌倦

She was fed up with the builders' wolf whistles each morning.
每天早上都有建筑工人冲她挑逗地吹口哨，她烦都烦死了RYmAOC3)A]qjW*O)Icc。

4.brewing n. 酿造；酝酿；计划 v. 酿造；策划阴谋

There's trouble brewing between them.
他们之间正在酝酿着纠纷0(U~8C~De_&。

参考译文

这里是美国之音慢速英语经济报道wtbTrgZm^wX_GOX;。

游行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q5hTdx.w*Cov.GDN=。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-Ra*HL=C.%。联合国前秘书长科菲·安南负责这项调查laQ9k9Gk]K~)+|_KAN。

游行者在财政部外呼吁财长乔治·奥斯本与其他发达国家的财政们商讨这一问题，梅勒妮·沃德是“如果人人知足”运动的发言人#wf)MN7P1C=B。

“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OwFqz1rm-vZ5#OHJ3=Pr。”

Ronen Palan是伦敦城市大学一名教授，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&9KqngdhQ0s。

“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XW1^HO5sii5q。”

但避税港的批评者说，大公司将利润从它们所依赖的国家转出!KXxnb%SfVqu#dSsj|K。

“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=peSO4;#pXmP1(1#4;u[。非洲或撒哈拉南部非洲其实是在向其他国家提供资本m.Gf-uX3sa)fK!#vuV。”

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B4-qpsx&2Vw7tjV!z。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v)G~z0VkzZX^ADs。慈善行动救援组织称英国联合食品公司利用分公司在赞比亚逃税数百美元，该公司称该指控“至少是片面的，事实上有的地方不对aYNMA0Py|n8。”

马克·利特尔伍德是伦敦经济事务研究所总监，他说避税港通过增加投资促进了全球经济的发展]9]dmnB74l2.。

“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Ym^bH;sg4H^XeIr。我们希望有更多投资，这会在一些最贫困国家创造就业机会并促进发展];B3wehe&z[J!=M%v。”

八国集团国家领袖下月与会伦敦，英国首相戴维·卡梅隆承诺将避税港问题纳入峰会议程C~gL84(L+^zW#R。

这里是美国之音慢速英语经济报道，我是马里·奥里特#[LygjZ&@sN6N.&WkG。