G8 leaders seek deal to curb tax evasion_美文_趣味英语-查字典英语网

G8 leaders seek deal to curb tax evasion

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World leaders at the G8 summit declared on Tuesday that governments must work together to close loopholes that allow multinational corporate giants to avoid paying taxes in their home countries.

British Prime Minister David Cameron, host of the two-day G8 summit at a remote lakeside golf resort in Northern Ireland, promised "significant developments on tax" in a tweet before heading into a morning discussion on the subject with the leaders of the United States, Germany, Russia, France, Italy, Canada and Japan.

British lawmakers have sharply criticized Google, Starbucks and other US multinationals operating in Britain for exploiting accounting rules by registering their profits in neighboring countries such as Ireland, which charges half the rate of corporate tax, or paying no tax at all by employing offshore shell companies.

But Britain itself stands accused of being one of the world's premier links in the tax-avoidance chain. Several of the UK's own island territories - including Jersey, Guernsey and the British Virgin Islands -serve as shelters and funnel billions each week through the City of London, the world's second-largest financial market.

"Of course Britain's got to put its own house in order," said Britain's treasury chief, Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne, who was invited to address the G8 meeting on corporate tax reform. Before the summit, Britain announced a provisional agreement with the finance chiefs of nine of its offshore dependencies to improve their sharing of information on individuals and companies banking cash there.