Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent progress has been made in tackling tax (a) avoidance and (b) evasion by companies registered in the Overseas Territories.

The UK placed greater tax transparency at the heart of its G8 Presidency, and since the Lough Erne summit in 2013 we have worked closely with the Overseas Territories (OTs) with financial centres on these issues.

The OTs have agreed to hold beneficial ownership information in central electronic registers or similarly effective systems under the bilateral arrangements concluded with them in April 2016. Under the arrangements, UK law enforcement authorities will have access to information within 24 hours or within one hour in urgent cases, and this information may be used in criminal or civil legal proceedings. These measures represent a significant step forward in our ability to investigate criminality, including tax evasion, and put the OTs well ahead of other similar jurisdictions.

The OTs have also committed to the initiative for the development of a global system for the systematic exchange of beneficial ownership information.

In addition, the OTs have agreed to the OECD's Common Reporting Standard, which will see them exchange with over 100 jurisdictions the financial account information of their taxpayers. First exchanges will begin in 2017. The OTs have, however, already begun to exchange this information with the UK, a year earlier than with the rest of the world. These arrangements give Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs access to data on assets held offshore by UK taxpayers, and mark a step change in our ability to tackle tax evasion.

We are working closely with our international partners to address the issue of tax avoidance by multinational companies. The UK has been at the forefront of the OECD Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Project to reform the international tax rules, and to close the gaps and mismatches in the rules used by multinational companies to artificially shift profits to low or no-tax locations where there is little or no economic activity, which results in little or no overall corporate tax being paid. We encourage all relevant jurisdictions to join the Inclusive Framework for BEPS Implementation and to commit to implement the outputs from the BEPS Project.