60 Minutes broadcast undercover film supplied by a public interest group, Global Witness, showing New York law firms discussing the use of shell corporations to buy US real estate without disclosing the real owner.
The process was helped by the use of shell companies in offshore jurisdictions with strict secrecy laws.
One of the pervasive elements of corruption is the use of shell companies, which are legal entities designed purely to protect real owners from disclosure, liability and accountability.
"Prime minister, you can outlaw the use of shell companies with concealed ownership and other means of tax avoidance," the letter, released on Thursday, says.
Included in its estimates are ill-gotten wealth from purposefully incorrect trade invoices, the use of shell companies and tax havens and other accounting gimmicks.
The low headline rate, combined with complex use of shell companies, has helped Ireland to draw in scores of tech and pharmaceutical firms.
A bill has been proposed in the United States to prevent the use of shell corporations to hide the true ownership of assets owned here.
An anathema to Adam Smith, today through the use of shell companies and anonymous ownership limited liability has been transformed from an engine of enterprise into a corrupt protection of the 1%.
Country-by-country reporting has long been a key demand of tax activists, who accuse big corporations of secretly shifting profits to low-tax jurisdictions, often through the use of shell companies.
