In the aftermath of the ‘Panama Papers’ leak, the European Union’s five largest economies – the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain – have all agreed to share data on tax, in a crackdown on secret business and trust owners, who are failing to pay the correct tax.
The leak of 11.5 million documents, which has been dubbed the Panama Papers, has been met with outrage around the world, after it listed a number of individuals and businesses who have avoided tax by using secret companies.
Prime Minister David Cameron was among those involved, and has consequently come under significant criticism from the public, with calls for him to resign.
By joining forces, the true ‘beneficial owners’ of trusts and businesses will be disclosed between countries automatically.
“The IMF very strongly welcomes and supports this new momentum to fight corruption and tax evasion,” said Christine Lagarde, chief of the International Monetary Fund.
“We need to think outside the box and to that end, we at the IMF will question whether the technically assistance that we provide to anti-money laundering and to counter-terrorism financing can be better leveraged to identify what more is needed in terms of implementation.”
