Dave Hartnett, boss of HMRC, was in front of the Treasury Select Committee yesterday defending his appalling and almost certainly illegal deal with Switzerland.
As the Guardian note:
HMRC permanent secretary for tax Dave Hartnett told the Treasury sub-committee on Monday that in the next 10 years breaking down Swiss banking secrecy certainly "seemed very unlikely".
Oh yes? That's why the EU was confident on making progress on the European Union Savings Tax Directive with it was it?
As the Guardian also notes:
Tax campaigner Richard Murphy has argued that the deal has delayed international efforts to break down Swiss secrecy. "I am not saying Swiss bank secrecy was going to break down tomorrow. But the US is making big progress, the direction of travel is substantially in the direction of openness. This deal has guaranteed that anonymity is reinforced," he said on Monday.
It's true: I did say that, just before cooking supper last night.
And I'm far from alone in thinking that far from Hartnett's deal helping, it's hindering (unless of course you're a tax evader, when it's great news). As Europolitics note:
Luxembourg may well put a spanner in the Commission's works, though. Its finance minister released a statement [following the Swiss deals] noting that “the model of withholding at the source — a model Luxembourg has always defended — is a key element of the agreements,” which at any rate will “have an impact on the negotiations under way on the directive on taxation of savings income”.
Or, he will use them to scupper advances in tax transparency Europe.
Oh thanks Dave Hartnett, defender of banking secrecy and tax evader's friend as a result. Great work.
PS Why is the deal illegal? Because HMRC are agreeing not to investigate more than 500 crimes a year however many they find, and that has to be ultra vires their powers - which makes the deal illegal.
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Morning Richard,
Today is supposed to be when the IoM & Jersey tax regimes are reviewed. Will you have any insight as to the outcome?
I’ll wait and hear – sources come to me, I don’t ask
Morning Richard,
Have you had any feedback on the review of the IoM, Jersey & Gib tax regimes?
No
POSITIVE NEWS FROM EU TAX GROUP
TREASURY Minister Anne Craine has welcomed feedback from the EU Code of Conduct Group that it had agreed in principle that the Isle of Man’s business tax system will no longer be considered harmful if it goes ahead with its proposed withdrawal of the attribution regime for individuals (ARI). Abolition of the ARI from April 2012 was announced by Mrs Craine in her Budget speech in February this year and endorsed overwhelmingly by Tynwald.
The Code Group which monitors compliance with the EU Code of Conduct for Business Taxation met in Brussels yesterday (September 13, 2011). Isle of Man Treasury officials attended the meeting to assist Group members with their review, and agreed to keep the Code Group updated in relation to the progress of the legislation through Tynwald now that it was clear the proposal would meet the Group’s requirements. The Group’s conclusion is subject to formal confirmation by ECOFIN (the EU’s Economic and Financial Affairs Council) in December.
Mrs Craine commented: ‘This is a positive development for the Isle of Man. It is an endorsement of Government’s strategy of responsible engagement with international concerns while promoting the Island’s legitimate interests.’
http://www.gov.im/lib/news/cso/positivenewsfrom.xml
But that does prove what I said all along as right….and I was right to take the IoM on
And no amount of spin will overcome that
The IoM set out to create an illegal tax system; it did so, and now it has been overturned