The British tax man is among a number of government agencies worldwide which is scrutinising revelations from the Panama Papers about alleged tax avoidance by wealthy politicians, business leaders and celebrities in the UK.
News broke over the weekend of lists of wealthy individuals sheltering their finances behind a veil of secrecy afforded by offshore companies and trusts.
Jennie Grainger, who heads enforcement and compliance at HM Revenue and Customs disclosed that HMRC was aware of the details of British taxpayers mentioned in the Panama Papers.
“I can confirm that HMRC already has a lot of information about offshore companies, including those formed in Panama and they are subject of an investigation.
“We have asked the journalists exposing the leak to share their information with us. If we find any evidence of wrongdoing, we will act swiftly and appropriately.”
Money laundering and tax evasion claims
HMRC has conducted a continuing campaign against tax avoidance in recent years.
Since 2010, HMRC has recovered £2 billion in ‘lost’ tax – but the figure looks as if millions of pounds spent on investigations has just scratched the surface of the problem.
“The message is a there is no safe haven for tax avoidance and we are acting to close any bolt-hole for people who refuse to pay their fair share of tax like everyone else,” said Grainger.
The Panama Papers are a cache of more than 11 million financial documents obtained by a whistle-blower from Panama law firm Mossack Fonseca.
The firm says they acted as administrators for intermediaries advising the rich and famous about wealth management.
A number of world leaders face allegations of tax avoidance – and all have either refused to comment or have denied impropriety.
Journalists have trawled through the documents and claim to have evidence of money-laundering, arms and drugs dealing and tax evasion.
Cameron family implicated
The documents cover 40 years of files held by the law firm.
One of the main allegations spotlights more than $2 billion of secret offshore loans and financial transactions between friends and associates close to Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
Other claims were made against Ian Cameron, the father of the British prime minister and other senior Tory Party figures.
Cameron is hosting a tax avoidance conference in London in a few weeks and the revelations could put him in a difficult position over forcing British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies to open their vaults to identify who runs companies registered in their jurisdictions.
The British Virgin Islands and Jersey figure heavily in the Panama Papers.
