Britain, U.S., Australia hunt for tax evaders yielding leads

By William James and Patrick Temple-West

LONDON/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A joint effort by Britain, the United States and Australia to track down people who conceal wealth in offshore tax structures has helped identify more than 100 individuals, Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) said on Thursday.

"The message is simple: if you evade tax, we're coming after you," said Chancellor George Osborne.

After a string of high-profile multinational companies were shown to be paying little or no tax in the UK, Britain has been pushing the European Union and other major economies to clamp down on tax evasion and avoidance.

HMRC said it had teamed up with Australian and U.S. authorities to help speed up analysis of 400 gigabytes of data they have obtained.

Michael Danilack, a deputy U.S. Internal Revenue Service commissioner said the United States was willing to share this information with other countries.

UK and U.S. officials declined to identify the source of the information.

"This data is another weapon in HMRC's arsenal," Osborne said.

The data may overlap with data leaked to The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), the watchdog group said on Thursday.

In April, the ICIJ and media partners began reporting on alleged tax evasion cases stemming from 260 gigabytes of information, including cash transfers and incorporation dates.

"The files illustrate how offshore financial secrecy has spread aggressively around the globe, allowing the wealthy to avoid taxes," the ICIJ said in a statement.

HMRC said some of those identified as a result of the three-country collaboration were already under investigation for tax evasion, and more than 200 other accountants, lawyers and advisers face scrutiny over their roles in setting up offshore tax structures.

Early results from the project with the U.S. IRS and the Australian Tax Office highlighted the use of trusts and companies in territories such as Singapore, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands and the Cook Islands.

(Reporting by William James in London and Patrick Temple-West in Washington; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh, Toni Reinhold)

View the original article here

Australia PM appoints new resources minister in reshuffle

CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australia's prime minister appointed Gary Gray, a former adviser to the country's largest oil and gas firm Woodside Petroleum, as resources minister on Monday in a cabinet reshuffle forced by a string of ministerial resignations.

Gray, a senior Labor party figure in the resource-rich Western Australia state, should ensure an advocate for the resources industry remains in place at a time when investment in the sector is slowing amid signs the mining boom has peaked.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard also said the Climate Change Department, which has overseen the introduction of a controversial carbon tax, would now be merged with the Industry Department, and would be overseen by Climate Change Minister Greg Combet.

However, Gillard made no changes to the crucial Treasury or Finance Ministry, held by Deputy Prime Minister Wayne Swan and Penny Wong respectively.

The reshuffle was forced on the government after a botched leadership coup last Thursday by forces loyal to former leader Kevin Rudd, with three cabinet ministers and two junior ministers quitting after supporting Rudd.

Gillard has set elections for September 14, which opinions polls currently show she is almost to certain to lose, meaning the reshuffle's impact is likely to be limited.

Among those to resign was former Resources Minister Martin Ferguson, who was regarded as a business friendly minister and a strong supporter of the mining industry in Gillard's cabinet.

Around A$400 billion ($418 billion) has been invested in Australian resources projects over the past decade, with a further A$200 billion in liquefied natural gas projects, but the boom appears to be slowing.

The mining employer group Australian Mines and Metals Association (AMMA) said Gray was well known to the industry and should help attract investment to the sector.

Gray joined the Labor party in 1974. He quit the party in 2000 to work for conglomerate Wesfarmers and later as a public relations adviser for Woodside Petroleum, in order to help shape its defense in a takeover battle with Royal Dutch Shell.

Shell eventually withdrew its bid after it was deemed harmful to the national interest by then Treasurer Peter Costello, thanks in part to Gray's campaign to muster public sentiment against Shell.

($1 = 0.9572 Australian dollars)

(Reporting by James Grubel; Editing by Ed Davies)

View the original article here