Tax move 'to cost poor states £4bn'

Planned Treasury changes to tax rules on multinational companies will deprive governments in poor countries of as much as £4 billion a year in revenue, a development charity has warned.

ActionAid said that the relaxation of Controlled Foreign Company (CFC) rules, expected to be introduced in Chancellor George Osborne's March 21 Budget, will create a loophole allowing global businesses to dodge tax on the profits they make in the world's least developed states.