OECD plan targets multi-national tax avoidance

SYDNEY: Multi-national companies which use international legal loopholes to avoid paying tax will be targeted by the authorities around the world under new universal laws, the Group of 20 (G20) conference in Australia was told on Saturday.
At the G20 meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors in Cairns, members agreed to a plan by the Organization Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) targeting tax-avoiding firms. The plan, to be presented to the G20 for final approval next year, involves a single set of international tax rules, which all governments will follow to snare tax-cheating multinationals. The new laws also force companies to give far more information to the tax authorities about their profits, where they are raised, and how they are made.
OECD secretary general Angel Gurria told reporters that major corporations had an estimated 2 trillion US dollars in tax havens.
Gurria singled out developing nations, saying they were especially vulnerable if they did not have laws to protect their tax base and encouraged them to join the plan.