UK Government's G8 Lough Erne Declaration
Private enterprise drives growth, reduces poverty, and creates jobs and prosperity for people around the world. Governments have a special responsibility to make proper rules and promote good governance. Fair taxes, increased transparency and open trade are vital drivers of this. We will make a real difference by doing the following:
- Tax authorities across the world should automatically share information to fight the scourge of tax evasion.
- Countries should change rules that let companies shift their profits across borders to avoid taxes, and multinationals should report to tax authorities what tax they pay where.
- Companies should know who really owns them and tax collectors and law enforcers should be able to obtain this information easily.
- Developing countries should have the information and capacity to collect the taxes owed them – and other countries have a duty to help them.
- Extractive companies should report payments to all governments - and governments should publish income from such companies.
- Minerals should be sourced legitimately, not plundered from conflict zones.
- Land transactions should be transparent, respecting the property rights of local communities.
- Governments should roll back protectionism and agree new trade deals that boost jobs and growth worldwide.
- Governments should cut wasteful bureaucracy at borders and make it easier and quicker to move goods between developing countries.
- Governments should publish information on laws, budgets, spending, national statistics, elections and government contracts in a way that is easy to read and re-use, so that citizens can hold them to account.
Source: UK Government. www.gov.ukCopyright Acknowledged