Paradise Papers Debate

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Department: HM Treasury

Paradise Papers

James Duddridge Excerpts
Monday 6th November 2017

(7 years, 1 month ago)

Commons Chamber
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Mel Stride Portrait Mel Stride
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As I have already explained to the hon. Lady and the House, the register of beneficial ownership is now an element within these tax jurisdictions. It is accessible by HMRC, which is, after all, the authority that we rely on to bear down on tax avoidance. As to her comments about Russian money, I have no doubt that if HMRC can get the information that it has requested from the BBC, The Guardian and the group of journalists, it will be even better prepared to clamp down on such issues where activity is found to be inappropriate.

James Duddridge Portrait James Duddridge (Rochford and Southend East) (Con)
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When he looks at these issues with the overseas territories and Crown dependencies, may I urge the Minister to bear in mind the states in the US that have worse standards? Standards need to be raised globally, not just in some of these island paradise states.

Mel Stride Portrait Mel Stride
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My hon. Friend is absolutely right. We need to work with our international partners, which is why, as I have said, we have been working closely with the OECD on the base erosion and profit shifting project. We are well ahead of the pack in implementing those recommendations.