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by pltm
(PLTM) - The United Kingdom (UK) is widening its investigation into tax evasion involving its Overseas Territories (OTs). This will be done through the sub-committee of the Treasury Select Committee of Parliament, which has launched a probe in the wake of the Panama and Paradise Papers leaks.
According to international reports, OTs are to be asked to give evidence before British MPs as part of the probe into tax avoidance and evasion.
Reports are that Hon. John Mann, Labour MP for Bassetlaw and Chairman of the Sub-committee, said that he wanted to hear from the dependencies and territories themselves.
It unclear if the BVI has been asked to appear before the committee, but MP Mann made specific mention of the BVI when referring to tax evasion.
The British MP said the inquiry aims to unpick the failures of policy and resourcing that have allowed the tax base to be undermined.
When the House of Assembly meets in Road Town later this week, Hon. Julian Fraser, Opposition Member and Representative of the Third District, will ask Premier and Minister of Finance, Premier Hon. Dr. D. Orlando Smith, whether he has been asked to appear before a sub-committee of the Treasury Select Committee to give evidence.
Further, he will be asked whether he has been briefed on the questions to be asked, and could he share them with the House.
Premier Smith will also have to say whether he is aware of the investigation and for how long.
In the UK media, Mr. Mann said Britain should “regard it as a matter of national shame that the Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories that fly our flag give shelter to the wealth of the world’s financial elite”.
He said that half of the 240,000 shell companies used by Mossack Fonseca to help the wealthy dodge tax were incorporated in the BVI.
However, Mr. Mann said the BVI was “far from alone” in looking the other way “as the world’s financial elite used its legal structures to hide their wealth from prying eyes”.
The Paradise Papers — secret files from Bermudian-founded law firm Appleby — were released in June by journalists looking into the offshore activities of some of the world’s most powerful people and companies.
The Panama Papers were unveiled just over a year after 11 million documents were leaked from secretive Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca, which sparked international investigations and fresh vows to crack down on tax cheats.
According to media reports, British parliamentary committees cannot force individual residents outside the UK to appear before them.
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