Barack Obama has accused tax dodgers of “gaming the system” in the wake of the Panama Papers scandal.
Speaking at the White House , he said: “In the news over the last couple of days, with this big data dump coming out of Panama, we have had another reminder that tax avoidance is a big, global problem.
“It’s not unique to other countries because, frankly, there are folks here in America who have taken advantage of the same stuff.
“A lot of it’s legal - but that’s exactly the problem.
“It’s not that they are breaking the laws, it’s that the laws are so poorly designed that they allow people - if they have got enough lawyers and enough accountants - to wriggle out of responsibilities that ordinary citizens are having to abide by.
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“Here in the United States, there are loopholes that only wealthy individuals and powerful corporations have access to.
“They have access to offshore accounts, and they are gaming the system.
“Middle class families are not in the same position to do this.
“In fact, a lot of these loopholes come at the expense of middle class families because that lost revenue has to be made up somewhere.
“Alternatively, it means that we’re not investing as much as we should in schools, making college more affordable, putting people back to work, rebuilding our roads, our bridges, our infrastructure (and) creating more opportunities for our children.”