No safe haven

The thumbscrews are being turned on the world’s tax havens, preventing their banks hiding assets from tax investigators worldwide, reports Keith Nuthall. A comprehensive communiqué from April 1 and 2s’ G20 meeting in London committed member governments “to take agreed action against those jurisdictions which do not meet international standards in relation to tax transparency.” To enforce this, G20 governments said they would consider establishing increased disclosure requirements for taxpayers and financial institutions to report transactions involving non-cooperative jurisdictions; imposing withholding taxes on many payments to these jurisdictions; denying tax deductions for expense payments to payees resident in a non-cooperative jurisdiction; and more.