Prime Minister David Cameron has personally called for a tougher approach to large companies who use "fancy corporate lawyers" to "endlessly reduce" their tax bills.
In order to rake in the billions in unpaid corporate tax in the UK, the government is considering introducing a new power to prevent tax avoidance by big firms and the country’s wealthiest individuals, the Prime Minister announced.
The clampdown follows feverish calls from leaders of small and medium-sized businesses, angry about forthcoming spot checks on their paperwork by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) compared with the leniency still shown to big companies.
Mr Cameron said that bigger companies had to pay their "fair share" and his Nick Clegg echoed those concerns, claiming he would be urging Chancellor George Osborne to introduce anti-avoidance measures in this year's Budget.
"One of the things that we are going to be looking at this year is whether there should be a general anti-avoidance power that HMRC can use, particularly with very wealthy individuals and with the bigger companies, to make sure they pay their fair share," said Mr Cameron.
Enter your email address to receive news and information by email.