Obama plans crackdown on UK tax havens

Within weeks of taking power in January, president-elect Barack Obama plans a crackdown on international tax havens, including Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man, putting him offside with Gordon Brown.

Key aides to Obama are understood to have signalled he will introduce a law within weeks of taking power, reportedly similar to the Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act put to Congress last year, to which Obama was a signatory, as part of a wide-ranging revenue-raising and tax-reform package, the Guardian reports.

Obama advisors estimate the measure could raise at least $50bn (£32bn) a year in lost US tax revenues, and Washington sources say leading accountancy, expecting a fierce battle to water down the proposals, have already hired lobbyists.

Key measures are likely to include revealing the beneficial owners of secretive trusts; prohibiting accountants from charging fees on specific tax services; and identifying 'offshore secrecy jurisdictions' which 'unreasonably restrict US tax authorities from obtaining needed information'.

Further reading:

Pacts leave tax evaders nowhere to hide

Read the Guardian story