British Prime Minister David Cameron will try to repair trust in his leadership on Monday by speeding legislation to make companies criminally liable for employees who aid tax evasion.
After a week of questions over his personal wealth and his late father’s connection to an offshore fund, Cameron has moved to defuse criticism over his handing of the fallout from the Panama Papers by publishing his own tax records.
Seeking to boost his anti-corruption credentials, he will tell parliament on Monday that he will introduce legislation this year making it a criminal offence for companies if they fail to stop employees from instructing clients on ways of evading tax.
But with opposition lawmakers saying Cameron had not done enough to silence concerns about his wealth and members of his Conservative Party critical over his role in leading the campaign to stay in the European Union at a June referendum, the move is unlikely to calm the storm over the Panama Papers.
“This government has done more than any other to take action against corruption in all its forms, but we will go further,” Cameron will tell parliament, according to advance excerpts of his statement circulated by his Downing Street office.
“That is why we will legislate this year to hold companies who fail to stop their employees facilitating tax evasion criminally liable.”
The plan was announced by finance minister George Osborne in March 2015, but previously the commitment was to introduce the legislation by 2020, Downing Street said.
Accountants said the move could force companies to be punished for “rogue employees” and may increase the risk burden on firms doing business in Britain, which has already seen lower levels of investment because of uncertainty over whether the country will stay in the European Union at the June 23 vote.
“First let’s not have knee jerk reactions to Panama Leaks and the UK PM’s personal issues,” said Chas Roy-Chowdhury, head of tax at ACCA, a global accounting body based in London.
“We need to be proportionate and realistic in any new legislation being introduced,” he told Reuters.