Denmark and Poland have become two countries that are set to bar companies registered in offshore tax havens from having any access to financial aid from their coronavirus bailout packages. The Danish finance ministry, over the weekend extended its bailout program into July but was insistent that any firms that are based in tax havens would not be covered any longer. The ‘Business Insider’ translated the statement as saying :”Companies seeking compensation after the extension of the schemes must pay the tax to which they are liable under international agreements and national rules. Companies based on tax havens in accordance with EU guidelines cannot receive compensation, insofar as it is possible to cut them off under EU law and any other international obligations”.
As reported by UNN, this news comes against the backdrop of the billionaire Richard Branson seeking a bailout from the British government. Denmark are not the only country to take such steps, Poland took similar measures on April 8. The Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said large companies wanting a chunk of a roughly $6 billion bailout fund must pay domestic business taxes. “Let’s end tax havens, which are the bane of modern economies,” he added.
Tax havens are countries that have low or no business taxes. Among the most famous tax havens are Gibraltar, the Bahamas, Andorra, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, and Panama.
Robert Palmer who is the executive director at Tax Justice UK has said : “The UK government should seriously look at copying Denmark’s approach. Any bailout needs to come with conditions to ensure good business behaviour”. A spokeswoman for Her Majesty’s Treasury has responded to these claims by saying : “Obviously we’ve set up schemes at pace, and they are designed to support jobs in Britain. Sometimes that will involve foreign companies who employ people in the UK for example. But we are looking into the specific point on tax havens where as you know we have already taken considerable action”.
Current Affairs Correspondent | My name is Oliver Down I am 22, and a staunch brexiteer. I am a Bristolian lad who studied politics in Leicester. I believe in free speech and accurate journalism and I won’t be afraid to give you “the other side” of the story!
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