HMRC Places Itself Above The Law II

ICAS (The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland) aren't particularly impressed with HMRC's "Code of Practice on Taxation of Banks" either:

"It has always been the case that banks, and other businesses, have applied strict interpretations of the tax law in determining their tax liabilities. This certainty is a key principle for any effective fiscal system. However, the code seeks to persuade the banking sector to encourage compliance with the spirit, as well as the letter of the law.

This relies on the banks' ability to fully understand both the law and the intention of parliament in introducing new tax laws. Understanding the intention of parliament is something which, as recent high profile tax cases have shown, even HMRC are unable to achieve. The code also specifically targets UK banks, leaving other lenders such as overseas banks outside its scope – an approach which is potentially discriminatory."

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

What is TAXWISE?

TAXWISE is a tax-fee protection service that will pay up to £75,000 towards your accountant's fees in the event of an HM Revenue & Customs full enquiry or dispute.

To find out more, please use this link Taxwise

Tax Investigation for Dummies, by Nick Morgan, provides a good and easy to read guide for anyone caught up in an HMRC tax investigation. A must read for any Self Assessment taxpayer.

Click the link to read about: Tax Investigation for Dummies

HMRC Is Shite (www.hmrcisshite.com), also available via the domain www.hmrconline.com, is brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

Power Corrupts - Hartnett's Global Ambitions

Business IFC reports that Dave Hartnett has aspirations for powers for national tax authorities to access data directly on their taxpayers' assets in other jurisdictions.

"I see automatic exchange of information as the benchmark. That is the position which I would like to reach as standard."

Doubtless the "if you are innocent, you have nothing to hide" retort will be used by some.

However, granting governments and their bureaucrats the right to such unlimited access to people's private lives gives these governments (and their bureaucrats) quite some considerable power over the individual.

Are we really able to trust these governments and their bureaucrats not to misuse this power?

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

What is TAXWISE?

TAXWISE is a tax-fee protection service that will pay up to £75,000 towards your accountant's fees in the event of an HM Revenue & Customs full enquiry or dispute.

To find out more, please use this link Taxwise

Tax Investigation for Dummies, by Nick Morgan, provides a good and easy to read guide for anyone caught up in an HMRC tax investigation. A must read for any Self Assessment taxpayer.

Click the link to read about: Tax Investigation for Dummies

HMRC Is Shite (www.hmrcisshite.com), also available via the domain www.hmrconline.com, is brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

HMRC Places Itself Above The Law

The Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT) is less than impressed with HMRC's consultation document on Code of Practice On Taxation of Banks.

"We are deeply concerned about any move that seems to erode what is one of the cornerstones of the UK's tax system: that taxpayers should be taxed according to the letter of the law.

Case law and documents going back to Magna Carta recognise this. In recent years, case law has developed its way of looking at the statute, towards a purposive interpretation of the transactions under consideration.

This has been a significant evolution, and one with which taxpayers and HMRC are managing to deal; it seems to deliver a good deal of what HMRC presumably hope to achieve with the current document.

However, any move to tax by the 'spirit' of the law is a major further step. HMRC need to recognise and justify the significance of the change."

Slowly but surely HMRC are attempting to put themselves above statute and parliament, and take on the role of judge, jury and executioner wrt taxation and the interpretation of tax law.

This is an "evolution" that must be stopped.

The bedrock of dictatorship is an overempowered, arrogant, unaccountable, unelected bureaucracy populated by "little men" who believe that they are working for a "greater cause".

Issues wrt "faulty" tax legislation are for the elected members parliament to address, not the unelected bureaucrats of HMRC.

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

What is TAXWISE?

TAXWISE is a tax-fee protection service that will pay up to £75,000 towards your accountant's fees in the event of an HM Revenue & Customs full enquiry or dispute.

To find out more, please use this link Taxwise

Tax Investigation for Dummies, by Nick Morgan, provides a good and easy to read guide for anyone caught up in an HMRC tax investigation. A must read for any Self Assessment taxpayer.

Click the link to read about: Tax Investigation for Dummies

HMRC Is Shite (www.hmrcisshite.com), also available via the domain www.hmrconline.com, is brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

Lessons In Morality From Nu Labour

I see that Stephen Timms is making it very clear in all orifices of the media that in his, and the government's view, tax avoidance is immoral.

Using emotive words such as "rob" and "cheat" to describe tax avoiders, thus implying that tax avoidance is illegal, he signalled that Labour will now be going on the offensive over this issue.

Here are a few thoughts on the matter:

1 It is perfectly reasonable, sensible, moral and pragmatic to do your utmost to reduce your tax liability legally. Tax avoidance is a legal way to reduce tax liabilities (whether it be a complex scheme devised by lawyers/accountants, or simply using an ISA).

2 Tax avoidance is not an issue of morality.

3 During the years of plenty, Labour chose not to close the so called tax avoidance "loopholes" that they are now screaming about. Why did they sit on their hands then, if this is such an important issue?

3 This is merely a way for Labour to pass the blame, and take the heat off their own economic mismanagement, onto others for the fact that the country is now bankrupt.

During the years "of plenty" Brown had the chance to build up some reserves that could have eased the pain now. He chose instead to "spend, spend, spend", leaving nothing for the "rainy day". To try to blame tax avoiders for this failure in economic management is hypocritical.

4 MPs are not in a position to lecture the rest of the population on the subject of "morality", given their own "shortcomings" in this area (eg house flipping -Darling has flipped his four times in four years to make the most of his allowances, tax evasion, claiming the full cost of mortgage payments etc).

5 Labour is happy to consort and cavort with tax avoiders, eg it gave tax exile Philip Green a knighthood, surely he is an "immoral" person by their definition?

6 Many of the tax havens that Labour are so angst ridden over are actually still part of the rump of empire, as such we do have more than a little influence over them. Shouldn't they have tackled this issue many years ago, if it really is of such importance?

7 Tax avoiders have not bankrupted Britain. Brown's bankrupt Britain is entirely of his own making. No matter what extra tax Labour think they will be able to derive from their new found "moral crusade", it will be a drop in the ocean wrt balancing the books.

8 Lloyds the government funded bank offers tax avoidance advice to its clients.

Lessons in morality should not be delivered by hypocrites.

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

What is TAXWISE?

TAXWISE is a tax-fee protection service that will pay up to £75,000 towards your accountant's fees in the event of an HM Revenue & Customs full enquiry or dispute.

To find out more, please use this link Taxwise

Tax Investigation for Dummies, by Nick Morgan, provides a good and easy to read guide for anyone caught up in an HMRC tax investigation. A must read for any Self Assessment taxpayer.

Click the link to read about: Tax Investigation for Dummies

HMRC Is Shite (www.hmrcisshite.com), also available via the domain www.hmrconline.com, is brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

Tax Avoidance vs Tax Evasion

Lloyds finds itself the centre of some unwelcome media and HMRC attention this week, following a Panorama report that showed the bank was helping people avoid paying tax.

The fact that tax avoidance is perfectly legal seems to have passed the media by, yet again.

However, of greater concern is Hartnett's reaction to the fact that Lloyds "brainstorms" to "get round taxes".

"Brainstorming in the context you've just used suggests to me some complex arrangement for tax avoidance. Or, worse still, potentially facilitating tax evasion … We simply cannot tolerate that sort of behaviour."

Tax evasion is illegal, and Hartnett is quite correct to state that HMRC should not tolerate it. However, to lump avoidance in with evasion is misleading, and Hartnett knows that.

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

What is TAXWISE?

TAXWISE is a tax-fee protection service that will pay up to £75,000 towards your accountant's fees in the event of an HM Revenue & Customs full enquiry or dispute.

To find out more, please use this link Taxwise

Tax Investigation for Dummies, by Nick Morgan, provides a good and easy to read guide for anyone caught up in an HMRC tax investigation. A must read for any Self Assessment taxpayer.

Click the link to read about: Tax Investigation for Dummies

HMRC Is Shite (www.hmrcisshite.com), also available via the domain www.hmrconline.com, is brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

Interest Rate Hike

I see that the furore over HMRC raising interest rates on overdue tax to 3% won't die down.

Both the Independent and Guardian have published pieces about it in the last few days.

Clive Gawthorpe, a partner at UHY Hacker Young, said:

"This is simply about HMRC clawing more money from taxpayers because of the desperate state of the public finances.

The rate charged by HMRC on late payment will be six times higher than the Bank of England base rate for most taxes.

Banks found it difficult to justify this kind of behaviour and have faced accusations of usury from the Government itself.

Why not harmonise the rate at 1.5 per cent charged for some corporation tax?

That would seem reasonable in view of the current base rate."

Doubtless our very bankrupt government will listen...LOL!

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

What is TAXWISE?

TAXWISE is a tax-fee protection service that will pay up to £75,000 towards your accountant's fees in the event of an HM Revenue & Customs full enquiry or dispute.

To find out more, please use this link Taxwise

Tax Investigation for Dummies, by Nick Morgan, provides a good and easy to read guide for anyone caught up in an HMRC tax investigation. A must read for any Self Assessment taxpayer.

Click the link to read about: Tax Investigation for Dummies

HMRC Is Shite (www.hmrcisshite.com), also available via the domain www.hmrconline.com, is brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"