Taxation (International and Other Provisions) Bill

If the re-committed Corporation Tax Bill was opaque, this is doubly so, and I say that as a veteran of several double taxation statutory instruments in my time. I want briefly to commend the Government and the Minister for the seriousness of their intent in this matter. I note the updating of tax avoidance legislation. When 82 per cent. of central London commercial properties are owned by companies registered outside the UK—that is the figure from the chief executive of Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs—when companies exploiting the developed world's resources choose to base themselves largely in Bermuda, the Cayman Islands and the Isle of Man and pay little if any tax, and when our biggest retailer put its property portfolio in Liechtenstein, there is a problem, but it is one that the Government have endeavoured to square up to. Tax avoidance and double taxation are two incompatible evils, and any Government who recognise the reality of international finance need to strike the right balance between them. The Government, and the Financial Secretary in particular, have been resourceful and persistent in their efforts in this regard, and have accelerated the work in this very complex field, using what coercive and persuasive powers they have. I know that the Financial Secretary has had discussions with Crown dependencies' many tax havens and we see now a panorama of treaties around the world, and statutory instruments in this place are multiplying similarly. It is an important point. In a depressed world, it is important that all pay their fair share of tax, and an aspect of this Bill, at any rate, is part of the long, painful, not unrewarding task of making that happen, in which the Financial Secretary has played a conspicuous part.