I agree with all that - and if I have got this wrong I’d be pleased to be shot down.

But I would love people to do better than say ‘it won’t work’

Richard

I’ll declare my interest in accountants staying in business, as they are the primary audience and customer base for my Tax Advice Network. Regardless of what happens with the whole income shifting debate however I have no worries about the future workflows for accountants or for those providing specialist tax support to them .

I’ve now read your replies above and elsewhere and have to admire your style and approach. Much of what you propose makes sense to me too. I would like to see the rational contrary arguments put forward by those who are in practice as I doubt it’s really as simple as you infer.

One thought that does occur is that any change in tax rules would need to anticipate prospective behavioural changes. Remember the introduction of a 0% rate of CT that, effectively, invited small businesses to incorporate to reduce their tax burdens. The Treasury had overlooked this behavioural change when forecasting the impact and cost of introducing the new rate.

In the same way, the limited support that may be provided by spouses to some business owners at present may not reflect the level of support they would provide under a different regime. I note your proposal (on the other blog entry, sorry) as to the flexibility that would exist to allocate management and admin’s share of profits. Neat. Again it would require further thought to take account of losses but I can see the basis for debate here. I’d love others to engage rather than just be dismissive.

Mark