UK Chancellor George Osborne has outlined new tax avoidance measures he claims will lead to an increased tax take of £4.6bn ($6.9bn) over the next five years in today’s budget.
In parallel with Budget, the UK government gave details of its offshore evasion strategy.
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Osborne is targeting four key tax avoidance areas:
– Offshore tax evasion
– Avoidance of employment taxes
– Tax avoidance schemes
– Corporation tax
The chancellor also underlined government plans to name and shame the promoters of tax avoidance schemes.
The first step is to launch a pilot study to identify, understand and tackle offshore risks associated with trust and company service providers and tackle those most likely to facilitate tax evasion. No details were given of when the study would begin.
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By GlobalData£1bn in tax from Channel Islands
Osborne claimed the announcement was "one of the largest ever packages of tax avoidance and evasion measures presented at a Budget", adding that the country is building the most competitive tax system in the world.
His flagship announcement was the tax information exchange agreements with the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands, Guernsey and Jersey. These new agreements are expected to bring over £1bn of unpaid taxes to the British economy.
Responding to the exchange agreements, Jersey Finance deputy CEO Heather Bestwick said: "One of the key benefits of this announcement is the degree of certainty that it offers the industry and our focus from this point forward will be to continue to work closely with government. […] The outline package agreed between reflects Jersey’s international reputation for high standards of regulation."
