G8 LEADERS will today turn their attention to trying to get international agreement to crack down on tax evasion, which costs the economies of the West billions of pounds every year in lost income.
David Cameron said countries were in their rights to set low tax rates but that companies had a moral obligation to pay their fair share. Pointing out how the controversy over fair tax had become a "kitchen table issue", the Prime Minister said: "It's perfectly acceptable for countries to set low tax rates to attract business and to be competitive; what's not acceptable is to turn a blind eye to bad corporate practice.
"What we need to make sure is that where people set their tax rates, we need to make sure the tax is actually paid."
Mr Cameron said he did not criticise the Republic of Ireland for having a low corporate tax rate, pointing out how the UK also had a low corporate tax rate. "But I do think it's important that having set the tax rate, that we expect companies to pay it."
Mr Cameron added that cutting corporation taxes in Northern Ireland – to allow it to compete with the south – was "absolutely something that could happen". However, it is thought concerns over what such a move might have on the debate for Scottish independence has meant the UK Government, for the time being, has parked the idea.
Elsewhere, Mr Cameron welcomed the launch of the US/EU talks on a free trade deal which he said could add £100 billion to Europe's economy. "The whole point of this meeting in Lough Erne is to fire up our economies and drive growth and prosperity around the world, to do things that make a real difference to people's lives," said the PM, after completing talks with Mr Obama and EU leaders.
There is no more powerful way to do that than by boosting trade, he added.
Barack Obama promised to make the trade talks a priority of his remaining term in office.
Earlier, in Belfast, he said that 15 years after the Good Friday Agreement, Northern Ireland was setting an example for people all over the world.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article