To fight tax dodging, Denmark will buy leaked Panama Papers

Copenhagen: Denmark's taxation minister on Wednesday said authorities will buy leaked data from a Panamanian law firm that helped customers open offshore companies to avoid paying taxes.

Taxation minister Karsten Lauritzen said Denmark's Customs and Tax Administration had received an anonymous offer over the summer to acquire data from the so-called "Panama Papers" that could involve up to 600 people.

Lauritzen said "everything suggests that it is useful information" and "we owe it to all Danish taxpayers who faithfully pay their taxes."

He said other parties in Parliament supported buying some of the 200,000 documents leaked from law firm Mossack Fonseca, saying "the material contains relevant and valid information about several hundred Danish taxpayers."

He said the data cost a single-digit million kroner, where 9 million is equivalent to USD 1.4 million.