Taxation: Avoidance Debate

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Department: HM Treasury

Taxation: Avoidance

Baroness Wheatcroft Excerpts
Thursday 14th March 2013

(11 years, 9 months ago)

Lords Chamber
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Lord Newby Portrait Lord Newby
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The Government support country-by-country reporting for the extractive industries, where some of the worst abuses are taking place. We are currently looking at broader proposals for country-by-country reporting. On the point about expanding the principle more widely, we want to make sure that we get the costs and benefits right.

Baroness Wheatcroft Portrait Baroness Wheatcroft
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My Lords, does the Minister agree with me that the important thing, as we have heard, is to get global companies to pay their fair share of taxes everywhere, including in Britain? One way in which to ensure that we get more from them would be to look again at the transfer pricing regime.

Lord Newby Portrait Lord Newby
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Absolutely. Because the transfer pricing regime is based on international rules, we have put more resources into the OECD process, which is moving forward reasonably quickly. An interim report was produced last month, and there is now a recognition that the rules have to be changed among the major European countries and the major countries in the G20. I sincerely hope that the rules will be changed.