Theresa May signals new crackdown on fat-cat pay and corporate tax

Proposals expected later this year

Theresa May is planning new policies to tackle bad corporate behaviour (AFP/Getty)

Theresa May has promised new proposals to clamp down on big multinationals, potentially including measures on fat-cat pay and corporate tax avoiders.

The Prime Minister said it was an issue that she had already signalled she wanted to explore in a speech given before she won the Tory crown.

It comes as she delivered a message to the G20 that the benefits of free trade had to spread more widely to avoid "anti globalisation" sentiment.

In a speech given earlier in the summer as she vied to become Tory leader, Mrs May highlighted that she wanted to tackle corporate misdemeanours.

Asked what was happening with her plans, she confirmed policy proposals were on their way.

She said: "I was very clear that we want to look at the whole issue of corporate behaviour and will be bringing out some proposals later in the year in relation to this.

"And I gave a very clear message in that speech, that actually I think there is an issue for corporates in paying taxes, there is a responsibility in paying taxes because there's a, if you like, a quid pro quo.

"Employees, their children are at schools, they use the health service, goods are transported by roads and trains and so forth."

She added that the chief executives' pay as a multiple of their lowest paid workers was also an area she was exploring.

It comes shortly after the European Commission ordered Apple to pay £11 billion in back taxes after ruling that a so-called 'sweetheart deal' struck between the two was illegal.