Campaigners seeking global action to tackle tax-dodging by major companies internationally have expressed their frustration at the chances of the G8 leaders agreeing concerted efforts to crack down on tax avoiders.
While British Prime Minister David Cameron has touched on tax transparency as a key topic on agenda next week in the G8 summit, Robert Palmer from the campaign group Global Witness said an agreement on the matter does not seem likely.
Palmer said Canada, Russia, Germany and Japan are not convinced about cooperation on tax evasion and other G8 leaders do not see why they should share tax information with them.
“I don’t think we are going to get a commitment from across the G8 that they are all going to do this idea of public registries of beneficial ownership,” Palmer said.
This comes as tax evasion has turned into a public headache for the British government, with polls saying 41 percent of the Brits are ready to boycott big corporations accused of tax fraud.
The Guardian/ICM poll found that 21 percent of the British public are Å“very likely” to boycott big brands over tax with another 20 percent saying they are Å“quite likely” to do so.
The research was conducted after revelations that Britainâ„¢s largest water company, Thames water paid no corporation tax out of its reported profit of £550 million in 2012, and even got £5 million credit from the Treasury.
AMR/HE
This article originally appeared on: Press TV