Global Glimpses

The European Commission yesterday reiterated its commitment to fight against tax evasion, following the Paradise Papers leak.

Paul Hodgson provides an in-depth look at Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May’s comments during the Conservative Party conference this month and what they mean for Britain’s future.

A new round of investigations on the Panama Papers conducted by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) this week revealed that Panama-headquartered law firm Mossack Fonseca established offshore companies to own, hold, or do business with petroleum, natural gas, and mining operations in 44 of Africa’s 54 countries—many of them controlled by politicians, their family members, and business associates. Jaclyn Jaeger reports.

The Panama Papers document leak shed much light on a deep and pervasive effort to evade taxes. Since then, the European Union has passed a number of new rules to improve tax transparency and close tax loopholes. According to CW’s Paul Hodgson, the EU is only just getting started.

French tax authorities are seeking €356 million (approximately US$404 million) from Booking.com, a unit of online hotel reservation company Priceline Group, to recover what they claim are unpaid income taxes and value-added taxes, the company disclosed in a quarterly report.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes has announced that Bahrain, Lebanon, Nauru, Panama, and Vanuatu are now committed to sharing financial account information automatically with other countries. Jaclyn Jaeger has more.

An investigation into third parties by the Revenue Commissioners of Ireland revealed that some companies were deliberately dodging tax laws by submitting incomplete and doctored disclosures to avoid penalties. According to a report by the comptroller and auditor general, tighter regulations are necessary to help crack down on tax evasion by contractor companies. More inside.