Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have any plans to prohibit CDC Group from investing in companies based in tax havens or linked to companies based in tax havens.

There is no internationally recognised definition of a “tax haven.” CDC respects the tax policies of governments and supports their ability to tax. Whilst the development of domestic tax policy is the responsibility of governments, CDC requires its investee companies to approach tax is a responsible manner. CDC requires that: investee companies should be compliant, should not engage in base erosion and profit shifting, and should not engage in egregious tax planning.

Wherever possible, CDC invests directly into the country in which an investee company is located. If CDC invests through an intermediate country, it does so only if the country is compliant with international tax transparency standards as monitored by the OECD’s Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Tax information.

CDC’s policy on the payment of taxes and the use of offshore financial centres is available on CDCs website. This policy has been agreed with DFID and is reviewed annually.