Britain to 'sweep away' tax secrecy - David Cameron

15 June 2013 Last updated at 09:01 GMT

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David Cameron described shell companies used for tax purposes as "shadowy"

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The government will "sweep away" tax secrecy by forcing so-called shell companies to declare who makes money out of them, David Cameron has said.

The prime minister told the Guardian that "secretive companies in secretive locations" were used to avoid tax.

He is also due to meet the leaders of Britain's Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies to urge them to be more open about their tax affairs.

Tax evasion and avoidance will be discussed at the G8 meeting next week.

Ahead of the G8 in County Fermanagh, the government has announced plans to require all British firms by law to register details of their ownership and beneficiaries with Companies House.

The register would be available only to authorities such as HM Revenue and Customs in the first instance but the government would consult on making it public.

Mr Cameron said he would like the register to be available to everyone but added: "I do not want to disadvantage Britain by doing something others won't do."

'Tax havens'

Treasury Chief Secretary Danny Alexander told the BBC ministers hoped that other countries would be prepared to create - and share - their own registers of beneficial ownership.

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Analysis

Chris MasonPolitical correspondent

Think of those rows about Google, Starbucks and others and their tax bills. They were case studies in the tussle between multinational companies and national governments over tax.

At the heart of the tussle is a perpetual tension. Governments want to secure what they believe they are owed, but also hope to secure a competitive advantage over others by offering tax incentives to firms in the hope of luring them to their shores.

That is the big picture. The detail breaks down like this: David Cameron wants to be seen to be getting his own house in order first, and so wants British Crown Dependencies to be much more transparent.

He also wants UK registered companies to be forced to be more clear about who their financial beneficiaries are. But he is not certain yet that such a register should be public.

Why? Because if other countries didn't follow suit, it could put British businesses at a disadvantage.

We are back to that tussle again.

"The goal here is to have an international tax system that ensures that there aren't places where secretive corporate structures can hide their money from the tax authorities," he said.

"It's critically important that we have transparency about who owns companies and who are the ultimate beneficiaries of any given corporate structure."

Mr Alexander said such transparency would be "very powerful" and would enable the government to recoup more tax.

Alongside the new register, the government is also continuing to push for automatic information exchange with Britain's Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.

Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Gibraltar, Anguilla, Montserrat, the Turks and Caicos Islands, Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man are all expected to be represented at Saturday's meeting at No 10.

Many of the islands and outposts are regarded as tax havens, although that is a label they strongly dispute.

Richard Murphy, director of Tax Research UK, told the BBC how automatic information exchange would work.

"If, for example, you had an account in Jersey... Jersey would have to tell the UK you've got it and how much income you earn on it automatically, without your consent."

But he added: "Let's be honest, tax havens deliberately disguise who has accounts in their jurisdictions, whether that is individuals by some form of banking secrecy or companies through the use of trusts and offshore companies."

Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man have already agreed to some information sharing with the UK, but not all other countries.

'Through persuasion'

Labour leader Ed Miliband said Mr Cameron must be prepared, if necessary, to get tough with any territories or dependencies which refuse to comply.

"Britain, which has responsibility for arguably the biggest network of tax havens in the world, needs to use all its considerable legal power and authority to ensure all the UK overseas territories and Crown dependencies which act as tax havens sign up," he said in an article for The Independent.

Asked about the possibility of imposing such requirements, Mr Alexander said: "I think it's better to do it through persuasion... but look, if in the end it comes to that, I dare say we would consider it."

Christian Aid has said that banking practices in tax havens linked to the UK are costing the world's poor billions of pounds.

In a report, the charity said the territories were the largest source of investment to developing countries, but these nations were losing tax worth £100bn a year because of the way money was moved through havens.

At summit talks in Brussels last month, European Council president Herman Van Rompuy said there was a "strong political will" in Europe to make tax systems fairer and prevent multinational firms exploiting legal loopholes.

Mr Cameron is expected to ask leaders including US President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel to sign up to a new set of core principles on tax at the G8 summit at Loch Erne, which starts on Monday.