New UK criminal offence for companies failing to prevent tax evasion

Companies and partnerships face the prospect of being criminally liable if their employees or agents facilitate tax evasion by third parties.

The UK government has taken the next step towards the introduction of a new criminal offence for companies and partnerships who fail to prevent their staff from facilitating tax evasion by a third party. The key point here is that this is not about corporations evading tax themselves, but evasion by third parties with whom any associated person interacts.

Jack Lew, US Treasury Secretary on Tax Avoidance, Earnings Stripping and Inversions

Speaking to CNBC today, Jack Lew, US Treasury Secretary spoke about his view on tax avoidance, and what the US is doing to tackle “frustration in tax systems that don’t seem fair”. This comes on the back of rules to stop US businesses inverting into lower tax jurisdictions, but little likelihood of more widespread US tax reform.