More than 300 economists signed a letter to David Cameron and other world leaders criticizing the continuing existence of tax havens.
Tax havens "serve no useful economic purpose,” the letter states, adding that “whilst these jurisdictions undoubtedly benefit some," they operate at "the expense of others, and they therefore serve to increase inequality.”
The letter comes ahead of the UK Government’s summit on offshore corruption in London. The UK is “uniquely placed to take a lead” on establishing registers of beneficial ownership for companies, the letter says, because the country has “sovereignty over around a third of the world’s tax havens.”
Nobel Prize winner Angus Deaton, former IMF chief economist Olivier Blanchard and the University of Sussex’s Mariana Mazzucato signed the letter.
The move follows a month after the so-called "Panama Papers" showed that Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca helped its clients launder money, dodge sanctions and avoid tax. Documents revealed links to 72 current or former heads of state, high-ranking officials, businessmen and cultural figures.
The UK, Germany, Spain, Italy and France recently announced an agreement to develop and pilot a multilateral tax information exchange facility in the effort to clamp down on tax evasion and corruption.
