The Prime Minister must step up and improve tax transparency

I called on the Prime Minister to step up and improve tax transparency.

See below my question and the Prime Minister's response.

Meg Hillier (Hackney South and Shoreditch) (Lab/Co-op)

One of the main benefits of the journalism that uncovered the Panama papers was that it shone sunlight on areas where some people did not want it to go. The Prime Minister makes great play of saying that his Government have done a great deal to improve corporate tax transparency, but this is nowhere near enough. When is he going to step up and make sure that corporates publish their tax information so that everybody"”the public"”can see where tax is being paid?

The Prime Minister

I am not saying that we have a perfect record, but this Government have done more than any previous Government to make this happen. I will answer the hon. Lady very directly: of course our system is based on full disclosure by companies to the Revenue but with a basic deal of taxpayer confidentiality between companies and the Revenue. That is the way our system and most other systems work. That is why the common reporting standards and the exchange of information between tax jurisdictions is so important, to make sure that these companies are telling the truth to us and to other jurisdictions. It is only when that happens will we be able to recover the money.