Have new government tax rules made any difference at all?

Posted on October 24 2014

The title asks a good question.

Channel 4 News web site had Margaret Hodge and me discussing the issue yesterday.

We'll be doing it again at the Public Accounts Committee conference next Thursday at the Guildhall.

 

Thanks for reading this post.
You can share this post on social media of your choice by clicking these icons:

You can subscribe to this blog's daily email here.

And if you would like to support this blog you can, here:

4

4 Responses

  1. David Lucas says:
    October 24 2014 at 3:54 pm

    The posting of 23rd October asking “Why a zero rate corporation tax is about undermining tax systems and democracy”, and todays posting “Have new government tax rules made any difference at all”, prompts me, a complete non expert, to ask the simple question – Why don’t our MPs do something about it? Surely it is within their power to for example, close down tax havens under British control.

    This then leads me to ask the question, do some of them, personally, benefit from the status quo.

    We know many MPs are given directorships and consultancies – see front page of todays Guardian – and that they are given even more directorships when they retire as MPs and move to the House of Lords. Some of the companies of which they become directors are almost certainly involved in aggressive tax planning.

    It would be nice for us, the electorate, to know that our MPs were not benefitting from any of these schemes.

    If all candidates at the coming election were asked to submit themselves to tax accreditation by answering a series of pertinent questions, such as “do you have offshore bank accounts”, and then their answers were verified by their accountant, we would all know who not to vote for. And we could assume that any who refuse to go through the process, refuse because they have something to hide.

    It seems to me that we are never likely to see the sort of changes that will be necessary to force corporations to pay their tax when clearly many of our MPs are part of the problem.

    I must just add that I have respect for many MPs, but clearly there are also many who are open to criticism.

  2. James Lloyd says:
    October 24 2014 at 5:56 pm

    Richard,

    Hopefully with your indulgence, a somewhat related concern in this article from the Guardian:

    http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/oct/24/eu-budget-bombshell-david-cameron

    I find the headline to be stunning:

    “How to dodge the EU budget bombshell”

    When we have out own side actively and openly promoting the idea of how to “dodge” a legal and rightful request for tax, I am absolutely staggered. This is precisely how the neoliberal narrative maintains a hold, as odious as that may be, in our society.

    Apologies as this is slightly off topic for this blog, I just needed to get it off my chest!