§ Mr. MitchellTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is Her Majesty's Government's policy on the proposed European Union withholding tax on dividends. [57459]
§ Dawn PrimaroloThe draft Directive deals with interest paid to individuals across national boundaries within the European Community. We are in favour of effective international action against tax evasion and are playing an active and constructive part in discussions on the draft Directive. But we have made it clear that we will not agree to any course of action which would seriously damage the UK and other European financial markets.