G8 leaders have signed a declaration committing themselves to "fight the scourge of tax evasion" and stressed the need to press for a political solution via convening a Geneva II conference as soon as possible.
Addressing the media at the end of the two-day summit in Lough Erne, Northern Ireland, on Tuesday, G8 summit chair UK Prime Minister David Cameron said leaders had "overcome fundamental differences", but there was no timetable for talks or mention of Syrian President Bashar-al- Assad's future role.
The final communique says the leaders strongly endorsed decision to hold as soon as possible the Geneva Conference, and that G8 will maximize pressure to bring the regime and the rebels in Syria into negotiations.
G8 countries also agreed to donate $1.5 billion in humanitarian support for victims of Syrian conflict.
The leaders of the major economies agreed on a plan to clamp down on money launderers, illegal tax evaders and corporate tax evaders.
Cameron said the OECD is being instructed to look at "discrepancies" between companies' profits and the amount of tax they pay.
Prior to the press conference, Cameron tweeted that that the G8 leaders have agreed not to pay any ransom money when their countries' citizens are taken hostage in future.
European Council President Van Rompuy and European Commission President Barroso said in a joint statement that all G8 leaders seized and reinforced the momentum in the global fight against tax evasion and tax fraud. The G8 sends a powerful signal that we are ready to take action to make sure that companies and individuals pay the taxes due, including via promoting automatic exchange of information as a global standard and introducing country-by-country reporting by multinational companies to tax authorities. There was also agreement on the need to priorities actions against aggressive tax planning by companies.
Other G8 leaders held separate press conferences at the close of the summit.
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