When is a tax illegal?

Posted on

Well, when it’s ruled so by a relevant body.

The EU did that to the UK yesterday. Mark Lee offers a thoughtful analysis here.

So, the UK has made a mistake. And it could cost £20bn — a 10% increase in the deficit — 20% of the cost of the NHS for a year.

To enrich banks.

I think some counter-measure is needed in the public interest. And I know the libertarians will scream and shout. And my answer is that the EU also has a concept of ‘unjust enrichment’. I think that should apply here.

For more than 20 years stamp duty reserve tax has been paid: few objected — and why should they when the charge is eminently reasonable? But HSBC has now. And the UK government has been found to have made an error.

At the very least a time limit for past claims has to be imposed. I really can’t see a significant tax increase to pay tax refunds to banks is going to go down well with any politician right now.

But let’s also go the heart of this: the EU dedication to the free movement of capital is at fault here. Why should there be that right when people do not share it, universally?


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: