Imran Hussain – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Imran Hussain on 2016-04-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on making tax information of UK-listed companies available to developing countries.
Mr Desmond Swayne
DFID Ministers and officials have regular discussions with other Government Departments on a wide range of issues relating to international development, including tax.
The UK supports efforts to improve tax transparency. We initiated international work on country-by-country (CbC) reporting during our G8 Presidency in 2013, calling on the OECD to develop a framework for CbC reporting to tax authorities as part of the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project. This important initiative will enhance transparency between business and tax authorities, including those of developing countries.
The UK leads international efforts to help developing countries tackle tax evasion and avoidance. DFID funds the Global Forum and the World Bank to provide technical assistance to improve exchange of tax information in developing countries which will allow tax authorities to gain access to information such as country-by-country reports. We also support the OECD in helping developing countries tackle multinational practices such as transfer pricing and have provided HMRC tax auditors to Tax Inspectors Without Borders, which puts expert tax auditors in the field working on complex multinational audit cases.
