G20 to declare war on havens
G20 summit will begin discussions over a crackdown on tax havens, but concrete measures aren't expected until Obama takes over in January
Tax haven: the Cayman Islands
World leaders will this weekend begin discussions over a crackdown on tax
havens, it is thought.
Richard Murphy, tax campaigner at the Tax Research Network, said the G20
summit presented an opportunity to start formal negotiations, but concrete
measures are not expected until US president-elect Barack Obama takes over in
January. ‘The summit will be the start of the process, not the conclusion,’ he
said.
Murphy said that denying tax relief to non-co-operative tax havens could be
an effective way of dealing with the problem, but it is unclear whether major
countries will be able to agree a way forward on the issue.
Obama’s victory is also likely to generate a new blacklist of tax havens who
fail to comply with information exchange agreements.