In November, another massive leak of information showed that corporations and the global elite continue to use tax havens to avoid paying their fair share.

The so-called Paradise Papers prove we need real change in how the world’s financial system operates. Tax havens allow the rich and powerful to hide their assets from national regulators, leaving the rest of us to pick up the tab for our schools and hospitals.

Now we have the chance to take action against tax havens. Finance ministers from all EU countries are sitting down on 5 December to decide on a blacklist of tax havens, and the sanctions that go with them.

But for that to be the ambitious action we need, we have to show our support, and shout as loudly as those working to protect their interests and water down the plans.

Let’s tell EU finance ministers to back a blacklist of tax havens and impose sanctions against them.

The Paradise Papers are a massive data leak from some of the world’s most secretive tax havens. The leaked papers show how everyone from The Queen to Bono, and from Apple to mining giant Glencore use offshore tax havens to reduce their taxes and to avoid public scrutiny of their dodgy dealings.

The first thing we can do to end that immorality and make sure that everyone pays their fair share is establish a clear list of the worst tax havens, based on objective criteria and backed with powerful counter-actions, such as sanctions, to end their use.

And EU leaders — under pressure to act after yet more scandals have been exposed — are drawing up what could be the the strongest international blacklist the world has seen. They just need our support to push them over the line.

Can you sign this petition to EU finance ministers asking them to back an ambitious blacklist of tax havens and impose meaningful sanctions against them?

It’s easy to feel powerless in the face of such widespread and systemic tax dodging. What can one person do to stop tax-dodging on a global industrial scale? But when we come together as a community there isn’t a company we can’t challenge, or a law we can’t change. We have enormous power.

Our community has come together in the past and challenged the rich and powerful. We fought back after HSBC was shown to be criminally advising clients how to evade their taxes. We took action when it was shown how European companies were using Luxembourg to dodge their taxes too. Now we have a real opportunity to bring about lasting change in Europe by demanding EU leaders introduce a blacklist of tax havens with means to sanction them if they continue to operate, allowing wealthy corporations to hide their cash.

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