Oxfam rebuffs Minister Desmond Lee’s claim that Singapore tax policies are not harmful

Though Singapore is defending its low taxes and refutes Oxfam’s ranking of the country as among the worst in the world in terms of its efforts to reduce inequality, Oxfam maintains that Singapore’s tax policies create more harm than good.

Rejecting Social & Welfare Minister Desmond Lee’s point that Singaporean citizens benefit greatly from the high quality of infrastructure and social support provided by the government even though almost half the population doesn’t pay taxes, Oxfam’s head of inequality policy Max Lawson told Reuters that the impact of Singapore’s tax policies extend beyond its borders.

Mr Lawson elaborated that these tax policies create a tax haven for the rich and big corporations which in turn erodes the revenue of other countries in the region and globally that could otherwise be invested in healthcare and education.

So though Singapore claims that achievements are a better gauge of their battle against inequality, Oxfam points out that their existing tax and labour policies do little in terms of addressing and reducing the problem of inequality both locally and globally.