Do taxes save lives?

I was taken aback the other day to see a Christian Aid poster about poverty, rather than their usual agenda of climate change and anti-capitalism. Then it dawned on me: it’s Christian Aid week, where they put collection boxes in churches. But they could not resist a report today entitled “death and taxes” in which they say that companies reducing their tax liability – “legally or illegally” – are actually killing people in so doing. High tax, apparently, saves lives.

‘We predict that illegal, trade-related tax evasion alone will be responsible for the deaths of some 5.6m children under the age of five between 2000 and 2015,’ says Christian Aid director Daleep Mukarji.

Problem is, companies do not pay tax. Only people do. Every penny companies earn comes from people – the more the tax companies pay, the higher the goods prices and the less customers have in their pocket.