British Prime Minister David Cameron has written to the leaders of Britain’s offshore tax havens emphasising on the need to "get our own houses in order" before the G8 Summit in June, as he pushes for international action to increase transparency and tackle avoidance schemes.
Cameron has written to 10 crown dependencies and British overseas territories – Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Gibraltar, Anguilla, Montserrat, the Turks and Caicos Islands, Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man – calling for more transparency about tax information and the ownership of companies.
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The PM said he had insisted that rules be set and enforced fairly while he respected their right to be lower tax jurisdictions.
The G8 summit will take place in Northern Ireland in June, where Cameron is expected to push for an agreement aimed at clamping down on tax evasion and avoidance. Cameron said he wanted the G8 to "knock down the walls of company secrecy".
Cameron wrote: "With one month to go, this is the critical moment to get our own houses in order. I am looking to all the overseas territories and crown dependencies to continue to work in partnership with the UK in taking the lead on two critical issues: tax information exchange and beneficial ownership."
Cameron added that lower taxes are "only sustainable if what is owed is actually paid – and if the rules to achieve this are set and enforced fairly to create a level playing field right across the world".
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By GlobalData"There is no point in dealing with tax evasion in one country if the problem is simply displaced to another," he wrote.
Cameron’s letter further stated:
"Some of you have already led the way with public commitments to produce action plans on beneficial ownership – and I hope those who have yet to can do so as quickly as possible.
"Getting the right content in these plans will now be critical. These will need to provide for fully resourced and properly managed centralised registries, that are freely available to law enforcement and tax collectors, and contain full and accurate details on the true ownership and control of every company."
