David Cameron is due to defend himself
and unveil new criminal penalties
in Parliament in the wake of damaging revelations from the Panama Papers tax scandal
.
Cameron will answer criticisms
by insisting that he has never profited from tax evasion
, and will say that his government has done a lot to tackle corruption
.
The proposed legislation, expected to become law later this year
, hold companies criminally liable if they fail to stop their employees or contractors from facilitating tax evasion.
Cameron on the legislation
The Panama Papers tax scandal
has brought about pressures not only on Cameron but also on other leading UK politicians
to make their tax affairs more transparent.
Labour is still demanding answers over Cameron's tax affairs
after he published data on his 2009-15 tax and earnings including a £200,000 gift from his mother
.
He will insist that his father’s offshore fund, Blairmore Holdings
, that profited Cameron £31,500, was not set up to avoid tax.
Cameron had already been pushing for greater tax transparency his government is to set up a new task force to investigate allegations on tax-dodging and money laundering, but is being accused of hypocrisy
.
It is expected to be included in May’s Queen’s Speech. Plans of the introduction to a new offence were announced
in February last year.
Cameron said: “This government has done more than any other to take action against corruption in all its forms, but we will go further. That is why we will legislate this year to hold companies who fail to stop their employees facilitating tax evasion criminally liable.”
Jeremy Corbyn
put pressure on other cabinet ministers and MPs to also disclose their tax affairs
on Sunday, following Cameron’s published data on his tax and earnings report
.
His mother transferred two separate payments of £100,000 to his accounts in 2011, allowing the family estate to avoid a potential £80,000 worth of inheritance tax, raising some questions
.
Jeremy Corbyn has said the questions for Cameron were whether he benefited from his father's offshore trust
before 2010
, and why the money was placed in an overseas tax haven in the first place.
David Cameron
is being accused of 'hypocrisy'
after admitting profiting
from his father's offshore fund
, among those leaked in the 'Panama Papers' tax haven scandal
.
They were announced by the then-chief secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander
.
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George Osborne
is now considering whether to follow Cameron’s lead and publish his tax returns
after pressure from the government. He could release some information within days.
He published data on his 2009-15 tax and earnings report on Saturday, which included a £200,000 gift from his mother
.
Corbyn says there is possibly a case for looking at inheritance tax rules. According to some experts, it’s not unusual for people to use this means to legally avoid inheritance tax.
The Labour Party has accused
Cameron of “hypocrisy” as he “wasn’t entirely straight with the British people” when he was initially questioned
on his father’s fund involved in Panama Papers.
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Today Cameron’s spokewoman said:
“The prime minister has made it clear that he was willing to be transparent. That is right for potential prime ministers also. With regard to those in charge of the nation’s finances, the prime minister takes that the view that chancellors and shadow chancellors should show transparency.”
Blairmore Holdings Inc, an investment fund
, was established by David Cameron’s father, Ian Cameron
, in the 1980s and is the fund at the centre of the Panama Papers
.
Cameron has said
he and his wife owned shares in his father's tax haven fund
, which he sold for £31,500 in 2010, but says the money was subjected to UK tax rules.
The Labour’s deputy leader Tom Watson said Cameron could not be blamed for his father's actions
but added: “He can (be blamed) for hypocrisy. He said that he wasn’t entirely straight with the British people about what his own financial arrangements were.
The Labour MP John Mann, a member of the Treasury select committee, said the prime minister should resign, claiming that Cameron had “covered up and misled
”.
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David Cameron’s father, stockbroker and director at Panmure Gordon. He subsequently created Blairmore Holdings Inc
. His personal fortune was estimated at £10m in 2009.
The director, Ian Cameron, as a client of Mossack Fonseca
, has been accused of avoiding tax payment
in the UK on its profits.
Cameron said: “We owned 5,000 units in Blairmore Investment Trust. I sold them all in 2010, because if I was going to become Prime Minister I didn’t want anyone to say you have other agendas, vested interests”
-> Mossack Fonseca (Haley)
Blairmore Holdings used to utilise bearer shares
, which some people use in order to evade tax
and still hasn’t paid tax to the UK.
Blairmore Holdings used bearer shares
until 2006, but there is no suggestion that Blairmore was using them for any illegal purpose.
Though legal, bearer shares
have been abolished
in many countries because they have been used by mobsters and tax evaders for money laundering.
These do not carry the name of the owner and they simply belong to the person holding the certificate in their hand.
In 2015 David Cameron’s government banned bearer shares in the UK as it lessens transparencies.