British Overseas Territories in the Western Hemisphere will abandon their "tax haven" status as London struggles to raise cash and counter European charges its Caribbean and other overseas territories encourage tax evasion.
Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne said London signed agreements with its overseas territories that will automate tax information exchange between Britain, its major international partners and Europe.
The sharing of tax information exposes bank account holders to tax collection authorities not only in Britain but also other countries and follows large-scale bank account disclosures secured as part of the European Union's financial rescue of Cyprus.
EU pried the information out of Cyprus by encouraging a media vilification campaign that focused on Russian account holders and suspected money laundering activities in Cyprus.
But the measure also targeted European tax evaders, Middle East financiers and anyone else interested in hiding assets from the taxman.
EU campaigns were aided by online leaks of alleged tax evaders' personal data. Luxembourg and non-EU Switzerland have also given in -- though only to some degree in the case of Switzerland -- to EU demand for disclosures.
Read more: U.K. under pressure to clean up Caribbean, S. American tax havens - UPI.com
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