Tax evasion, fake drugs, ID theft. Companies registered in Scotland are getting away with all of these due to an obscure 'finance vehicle' called the Scottish Limited Partnership (SLP).
SLPs allow their directors to operate in secret, so there's no way of holding them to account. Cases of SLP abuse are increasing with the sale of unsafe pills, laundering criminal profits, and most shockingly one has been linked to child abuse websites.
They are even marketed in Russia as 'Scottish zero tax offshore companies' as a tax evasion product. SLPs need to be shut down.
Tell Chancellor Philip Hammond he needs to shut down the SLP 'loophole'.
Just last week an SLP was found to be responsible for a $1 billion digital piracy case in the USA, yet there's no way of finding out who is in charge.
Although the companies are based in Scotland, it requires an act of the UK Parliament to end them.
MPs and MSPs across Party lines have called for an end to the SLP system, but in September of this year the Government wouldn't even approve a review.
It's time to get tough on those who abuse Scotland's legal system. Archaic tax laws shouldn't govern 21st century companies - the Government has to act now.
Let's end this tax abuse in Scotland - sign the petition
More information
Oxfam. 6 September 2016.
Scottish Legal News. 26 July 2016.
Herald Scotland. 4 October 2016.