David Cameron, UK Prime Minister, championed progress on the issues of tax and transparency by placing them at the top of his agenda for the UK’s chairmanship of the G8. But now the summit is over, and the Lough Erne Declaration has been released, the question is whether his efforts were successful whether the issues have simply been kicked into the long grass.
George Osborne, UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, said more progress has been made on countering tax secrecy and corporate tax evasion in the last 24 hours than in the previous 24 years. But conflicting messages could yet stall concrete agreements.
United States House Ways & Means Committee chairman Dave Camp will hold a hearing on Thursday to examine US and foreign multinationals’ use of tax havens to avoid tax and shift profits outside of the US.
The UK tax authority has published a consultation paper to seek stakeholder feedback on its proposals to modernise the taxation of corporate debt and derivative contracts. But the paper also features a proposal that could end companies’ ability to perform tax-free debt-for-equity swaps.
Industry organisations in the US have urged President Barack Obama to prioritise the international competitiveness of worldwide American companies by championing tax policies to that end at the G8 summit later this month.
