British lawmakers urge tax authorities to get tough on big business

LONDON: A panel of British lawmakers has criticised the country's tax authority for being too lenient on big business and urged it to take companies to court to force them to pay more tax.

Corporate tax avoidance has risen to the top of the political agenda after revelations about the cross-border structures used by companies such as Google to reap billions of dollars of sales in Britain but pay little or no tax there.