Posted on

Tax Shopping. Exploring Zara’s tax avoidance business.

The Greens/EFA in the European Parliament reveal  that Inditex has saved at least €585 million in taxes during the period 2011-2014, by using aggressive corporate tax avoidance techniques, mainly in the Netherlands, Ireland and Switzerland. You may not know Inditex, but you surely know Zara, Massimo Dutti or Pull&Bear, some of the brands owned by Inditex. Our research looked in detail at their financial accounts and shows how some of their profits are moved to the Netherlands through royalties. Royalty payments are made by many companies for the right to use a brand name. Continue reading “Tax Shopping. Exploring Zara’s tax avoidance business.”

Posted on

Slave work in India: four large Spanish companies are on the ‘blacklist’

Wages of 1.3 euros per day for 68 hours of work per week, without a contract, in an unhealthy environment, without basic rights such as sickness or union membership, in a regime of deprivation of liberty … That is still the murky labour scenario that tens of thousands of girls and teenagers face daily, many of them being only 15 years old, in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, to the southeast of the Asian colossus. All these young women, who represent 60% of the more than 400,000 workers in the sector, are employed in conditions that border on slavery by textile megafactories that supply their products to the big international fashion firms, among them the Spanish Zara and Bershka (Inditex ), El Corte Inglés, Cortefiel and Carrefour Spain.

Posted on

5 Truths the Fast Fashion Industry Doesn’t Want You to Know

The fashion industry gets a lot of flack these days. The excess, the overtly sexual advertising, the humanitarian issues, the waste, the lawsuits, the list goes on.

The industry giants have dedicated millions of dollars to massive PR campaigns, going so far as to launch “conscious collections“ and donate proceeds to worthy causes. Yet despite these efforts, the truth remains — fashion is one of the dirtiest industries in the world. Here’s what they don’t want you to know: Continue reading “5 Truths the Fast Fashion Industry Doesn’t Want You to Know”