News / Politics

Cameron expects grilling in address to parliament

Monday, 11 April 2016 9:32 AM [ Last Update: Monday, 11 April 2016 9:45 AM ]

British Prime Minister David Cameron (Photo by AFP)

British Prime Minister David Cameron faces an expected grilling Monday from opposition lawmakers about his past investment in an offshore fund.

Cameron will address the parliament and introduce a bill that would hold employers criminally liable if they permit employees to promote tax-dodging schemes.

The premier said his administration “has done more than any other to take action against corruption in all its forms, but we will go further.”

Cameron, however, is expected to face a grilling by opposition lawmakers, who are demanding answers over his own tax payments.

Downing Street released details of Cameron’s income and tax affairs on Saturday in a four-page document compiled by the prime minister’s accountants.

The figures show that Cameron was left £300,000 tax free as an inheritance following the death of his father in 2010.

Later in May and July 2011, his mother also transferred two separate payments of £100,000 to his accounts. The sum allowed the family estate to avoid a potential £80,000 worth of inheritance tax.

Protesters demonstrate against British Prime Minister David Cameron in central London on April 9, 2016. (AFP photo)

The tax documents further showed that Cameron had a taxable income of more than £200,000 in 2014-15 and paid almost £76,000 in tax.

Cameron eventually admitted that he had benefited from selling his share in his father's fund in 2010.

Speaking to the Conservative party’s spring forum on Sunday, he said he was to blame for the furor caused by his failure to be frank about his profits from an offshore investment fund.

Labor Party leader Jeremy Corbyn has called for the release of Cameron’s full income tax returns. He said the prime minister should declare all of his investments, past and present, in offshore funds.

Meanwhile, thousands of protesters took to the streets in London on Saturday to call for tough action on tax evasion or Cameron's resignation.

The prime minister's office announced that a new task force will investigate allegations of tax-dodging and money laundering linked to the Panama Papers data leak.

The Panama Papers are a leak of 11.5 million files from the database of the world’s fourth biggest offshore law firm, Mossack Fonseca.

The records, which were obtained from an anonymous source last week, contain information on 215,000 offshore entities connected to individuals in more than 200 countries and territories.

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