The proposed US crackdown on corporate tax avoidance has provoked an angry response from low-tax countries used heavily by the multinationals that are the target of the Obama administration's reforms.

The US administration, in unveiling the plan on Monday, highlighted the Cayman Islands, Bermuda, the Netherlands and Ireland. The US moves are also likely to be felt in Luxembourg, Switzerland and Singapore where profits reported by US subsidiaries often appear disproportionately high, given the size of those countries.