22:02
Tieng Anh Vui
The government will "sweep away" tax secrecy by forcing so-called shell companies to declare who makes money out of them, David Cameron has said.
The prime minister told the Guardian that "secretive companies in secretive locations" were used to avoid tax.
Businesses would have to have adequate, accurate and current information registered at Companies House by law.
Tax evasion and avoidance may be a key issue at the G8 meeting of world leaders in County Fermanagh this week.
'Shadowy' firms
In an interview, Mr Cameron said: "We need to know more about who owns which company - beneficial ownership - because that is how a lot of people and a lot of companies avoid tax, using secretive companies in secretive locations.
"The way to sweep away the secrecy and get to the bottom of tax avoidance and tax evasion and cracking down on corruption is to have a register of beneficial ownerships so the tax authorities can see who owns beneficially every company."
The prime minister described such shell companies as "shadowy".
The register would be available only to authorities such as HM Revenue and Customs in the first instance but the government would consult on making it public.
Mr Cameron said he would like the register to be available to everyone but "I do not want to disadvantage Britain by doing something others won't do".
At summit talks in Brussels last month, EU leaders said they were committed to tackling tax evasion.
European Council president Herman Van Rompuy said there was a "strong political will" in Europe to make tax systems fairer.
A key goal was to prevent multinational firms exploiting legal loopholes on tax.
British territories
Mr Cameron is expected to ask leaders including US President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel to sign up to a new set of core principles on tax at the G8 summit at Loch Erne.
Forty-eight hours before the meeting the prime minister will call on businesses, governments and society in general to back the G8's priorities, under its UK presidency, aimed at boosting jobs and growth and reducing poverty.
Mr Cameron will also tell the leaders of Britain's Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies to clamp down on tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance when they meet in Downing Street before the Prime Minister flies off to Northern Ireland.
Places such as Bermuda, Gibraltar and the Isle of Man will be represented at the meeting.
Christian Aid has said that banking practices in tax havens linked to the UK are costing the world's poor billions of pounds.
In a report, the charity said the territories were the largest source of investment to developing countries.
But it estimated that these nations were losing tax worth £100bn a year because of the way money was moved through havens.
Christian Aid called on Mr Cameron to tighten financial controls on the UK's territories.
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