UK Tax Havens miss third deadline to act

Multiple British Overseas Territories have now missed their third deadline to expose the billions of pounds being stashed away in secret offshore accounts by super rich tax dodgers, corporates, and criminals.

Every year, $129 billion is hidden in offshore accounts within UK jurisdictions. That means billions in uncollected taxes that should be funding schools, hospitals, and social care are instead being secreted away— to fuel crime, conflict, and new jets for billionaires. 

In 2019, British Overseas Territories, including Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, and the Cayman Islands, agreed to shine a light on the dirty money and dodgy dealings— by publishing public registers of who owns the companies registered there. 

But six years on from these commitments, only Montserrat and Gibraltar have delivered. The other 14 territories just blew their third deadline. Whilst they dither and delay, we’re being robbed.

The British Virgin Islands and the Cayman Islands have brought forward legislation proposals but they are flawed and fall short of the properly accessible or transparent registers. Now, we have the opportunity to win properly public registers, that would finally lift the veil of secrecy that makes offshore tax havens so effective for dodging taxes, hiding dirty money and funding illegal activities. They would make it possible for tax authorities, investigators, police, journalists and charities, to follow the money and unmask crime, corruption and creative accounting. 

These tax havens aren’t just robbing the UK of billions — they’re devastating the world’s poorest. Many lower-income countries in the ‘Global South’ lose up to half their health budgets to these criminal practices. That’s why tax justice campaigners from around the world have been urging the UK to act. 

The UK Government has the legal authority to ensure the Overseas Territories introduce public registers so money can’t be hidden in shell companies, but they keep letting deadlines come and go, and letting tax dodgers off the hook. 

At the same time the government is slashing services and support for the most marginalised in the UK, and around the world. This is cruel and unnecessary. Especially when they are failing to use all of the powers available to them to tackle tax havens and end the super rich tax robbery.