Warlord
06-18-2013, 03:34 PM
http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/About/General/2013/6/18/1371577553630/David-Cameron-008.jpg
First the revelations from Snowden, then the rebuke from Putin and now this...
Complete failure on his signature issue of "tax avoidance".
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David Cameron's 10-point plan to tackle global tax evasion has met a hostile reception from campaigners after the prime minister failed to persuade his G8 colleagues to make any new binding commitments.
The prime minister hailed the Lough Erne declaration, issued at the end of the UK-hosted summit, as "real progress" in ensuring tax justice, and said the west's leading industrial countries would be held to account if they failed to act.
"These are very strong commitments that have never been written down in this way before. I made sure everyone put their names to these 10 commitments," Cameron said.
Downing Street insiders insisted the communique, on an agenda the prime minister had pushed hard, was the most substantial on tax and development in years.
But the prime minister's statement that the decisions made at the summit had the potential to rewrite the rules on tax and transparency were immediately challenged. Kevin Watkins, the director of the Overseas Development Institute, said: "We were promised a bang, but this is a whimper. It is simply a wish list."
Richard Murphy, of the Tax Justice Network, said the G8 had agreed that tax abuse was of global importance but had been unable to agree what to do about it. "Cameron has not delivered," Murphy said. "A few small things apart, the G8 declaration is all vague commitment and almost nothing of any consequence."
Cameron was unable to get any G8 countries to support Britain's call for registries of beneficial ownership of companies to be made public, he could not get Russia and Germany to publish national action plans to combat tax evasion, and he failed to get the G8 leaders to agree that an agreement on automatic exchange of tax information should be open immediately to developing countries.
The G8's declaration on tax said authorities around the world should automatically share information to "fight the scourge of tax evasion", and that countries should change rules that let companies shift their profits across borders.
"Companies should know who really owns them, and tax collectors and law enforcers should be able to obtain this information easily," it said.
"This could be achieved through central registries of company beneficial ownership and basic information at national or state level. Countries should consider measures to facilitate access to company beneficial ownership information by financial institutions and other regulated businesses. Some basic company information should be publicly accessible."
Samantha Taggart, a UK Uncut protester, said: "For all Cameron and [George] Osborne's tough talk on tax over the last year in the UK, there has been no tough action on tax. In fact, it's seemed more like the government is trying to turn the UK into a tax haven than close them down. So it's hard to believe that today's agreement will really live up to its huge hype because it is lacking in any substance as to how it will be implemented, or when by. Style over substance rarely leads to meaningful change."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/18/g8-summit-tax-evasion-david-cameron
First the revelations from Snowden, then the rebuke from Putin and now this...
Complete failure on his signature issue of "tax avoidance".
-
David Cameron's 10-point plan to tackle global tax evasion has met a hostile reception from campaigners after the prime minister failed to persuade his G8 colleagues to make any new binding commitments.
The prime minister hailed the Lough Erne declaration, issued at the end of the UK-hosted summit, as "real progress" in ensuring tax justice, and said the west's leading industrial countries would be held to account if they failed to act.
"These are very strong commitments that have never been written down in this way before. I made sure everyone put their names to these 10 commitments," Cameron said.
Downing Street insiders insisted the communique, on an agenda the prime minister had pushed hard, was the most substantial on tax and development in years.
But the prime minister's statement that the decisions made at the summit had the potential to rewrite the rules on tax and transparency were immediately challenged. Kevin Watkins, the director of the Overseas Development Institute, said: "We were promised a bang, but this is a whimper. It is simply a wish list."
Richard Murphy, of the Tax Justice Network, said the G8 had agreed that tax abuse was of global importance but had been unable to agree what to do about it. "Cameron has not delivered," Murphy said. "A few small things apart, the G8 declaration is all vague commitment and almost nothing of any consequence."
Cameron was unable to get any G8 countries to support Britain's call for registries of beneficial ownership of companies to be made public, he could not get Russia and Germany to publish national action plans to combat tax evasion, and he failed to get the G8 leaders to agree that an agreement on automatic exchange of tax information should be open immediately to developing countries.
The G8's declaration on tax said authorities around the world should automatically share information to "fight the scourge of tax evasion", and that countries should change rules that let companies shift their profits across borders.
"Companies should know who really owns them, and tax collectors and law enforcers should be able to obtain this information easily," it said.
"This could be achieved through central registries of company beneficial ownership and basic information at national or state level. Countries should consider measures to facilitate access to company beneficial ownership information by financial institutions and other regulated businesses. Some basic company information should be publicly accessible."
Samantha Taggart, a UK Uncut protester, said: "For all Cameron and [George] Osborne's tough talk on tax over the last year in the UK, there has been no tough action on tax. In fact, it's seemed more like the government is trying to turn the UK into a tax haven than close them down. So it's hard to believe that today's agreement will really live up to its huge hype because it is lacking in any substance as to how it will be implemented, or when by. Style over substance rarely leads to meaningful change."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/18/g8-summit-tax-evasion-david-cameron