Ten of Britain’s offshore territories agreed an information-sharing deal with the UK government just before the G8 summit in Northern Ireland at which a global ‘transparency’ deal, especially on company ownership, was agreed.
For the UK prime minister, the ability of giant multinational companies doing business in the UK to pay no tax in the country has become too big an issue to ignore.
The G8 agreement is likely to be only the first step. Most national governments have seen corporate tax revenues reduced as multinationals shelter profits in tax havens. Individuals too will find they are no longer able to rely on the secrecy they used to expect from tax havens.