Jean-Claude Juncker, the European Commission President, told MEPs this week that he would table a draft law before the end of June in efforts to highlight professionals who help clients exploit tax laws and shift money to offshore tax havens. Lawyers, accountants and other financial experts who devise complex tax avoidance schemes were a ‘real problem’, Mr Juncker said. ‘You can’t simply hide behind lawyers’ confidentiality. We are working on that. There is progress being made.’
'Trust of our citizens shaken'
‘The trust of our citizens has been seriously shaken by the revelations (Panama Papers) and there is a lot of indignation levelled at the corporate tax system, which is seen as unfair and insufficient,’ Mr Juncker, who was formerly Luxembourg’s Prime Minister and Finance Minister from 1995 until 2013, told MEPs.
Multi-nationals would need to disclose more information
The law would see multi-national companies having to disclose more information about taxes and profits. The commission has investigated state-supported tax avoidance, looking into issues such as Apple in Ireland and is set to publish a ‘name and shame’ blacklist of tax havens. The draft proposal would have to be approved by EU members and is not expected to come into force until January 2019.
Email your news and story ideas to: [email protected]
