The newspaper said the move, which is reportedly to be decided “within days”, could see executives from major global companies in the spotlight as they are questioned by MPs over their corporate tax arrangements.
At yesterday’s (Wednesday) Prime Minister’s Questions, David Cameron warned large international companies that HM Revenue & Customs will “look carefully”, at their tax arrangements.
Cameron was responding to a question from Labour MP Margaret Hodge, chair of the public accounts committee. Hodge pointed out that the Prime Minister had called comedian Jimmy Carr’s avoidance of £3.3m “morally wrong” and asked him to “take the opportunity to condemn the behaviour of Apple, Google, Facebook, ebay and Starbucks which have avoided nearly £900m of tax”.
In response Cameron said: “This is an international problem which all countries are struggling with about how to make sure that companies pay tax in an appropriate way.
“I’m not happy with the current situation – I think HMRC needs to look at it very carefully and we do need to ensure we are encouraging these businesses to invest in our country, as they are, but they should be paying fair taxes as well.”
Over the past few months, a steady stream of stories about high profile celebrities and companies avoiding tax has resulted in widespread anger and frustration within a public already feeling put on by substantial cuts to services.
The stories have forced the government to react, with it most recently announcing plans to launch a major crackdown on the promoters of aggressive tax avoidance strategies.
