UK Businesses required to publish Tax Strategy

I previously wrote about the HMRC consultation on Improving Large Business Tax Compliance. One element of this was the publication of a Tax Strategy.

This then appeared in the Autumn Statement, and now in Finance Bill 2016.

The proposals will only come into force after Royal Assent, but it would be bold to bet against this making it into the Finance Act broadly as it is.

So we are left with 2 very obvious questions. What do the requirements say, and what should businesses be doing now?

Osborne's Autumn Statement: Now you see it.... Now you don't.

Chancellor George Osborne yesterday delivered his Autumn Statement, and we expected most of the focus was on the Spending Review, and where the axe will fall. Then came some pretty big surprises around tax credits and police funding.

Always one to have a rabbit or two to hand, these were well kept secrets. They had all the "Now you see it.... Now you don't" of the large scale TV magician. However, there was plenty to digest on the tax front too.

Much will be written over the coming days about the Apprenticeship Levy, GAAR penalties, and a long list of other tax proposals coming out of the Autumn Statement.

COP21 and carbon pricing: Is there a climate for change?

Later this month, global leaders will descend on Paris for the 21st Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC); more snappily COP21.

Will this meeting see a significant step forward for emissions reduction? Is the climate for change big enough to bring a global price for carbon?

David Gauke's comments at ARC "Tax Myths"event

Attending the “Top Tax Myths” event, hosted by ARC, David Gauke MP, Financial Secretary to the Treasury responded to opening comments by ARC, the Low Income Tax Reform Group, CBI and ActionAid.

Latest thoughts from David Gauke on BEPS and UK tax policy

The Oxford University Centre for Business Taxation conference on “BEPS and UK tax policy”

This event, hosted by University of Chicago Booth School of Business, had an impressive speaker list. This piece focuses on the opening speech by David Gauke, Financial Secretary to the Treasury.

TAXE Committee gives multinationals ‘one more chance’.

Please see attached a piece I wrote for Tax Journal, published 30 October, on the "one more chance" given by the European Parliament TAXE Special Committee.

LINK

It is worth noting that since this was written, 7 companies have agreed to attend on 16 November, being Barclays, Coca-Cola, Facebook, Google, HSBC, IKEA and Philip Morris.

HMRC’s homage to Peter Falk with new 45% "special" CT rate

So the ink was almost dry on the Finance Bill. Then in a last minute move reminiscent of the late great Peter Falk playing Colombo, HMRC stopped and said “Oh, just one more thing…”

And that thing? An unexpected new tax (or rate of tax to be precise), intended by HMRC to avoid “an unfair tax advantage” being enjoyed by some.

New wide ranging tax proposals from the European Parliament

On 4 September the ECON Committee of the European Parliament published their draft report into “transparency, coordination and convergence” of the corporate tax system across Europe. It can be found here.

Improving Large Business Tax Compliance

Please see attached a piece I wrote for Tax Journal, published 31 July, on the new HMRC consultation document on Improving Large Business Tax Compliance.

LINK

Don't let Yoda talk about CBCR

With the new Star Wars movie due out later this year, no doubt our screens will soon be full of Star Wars related merchandising.

The idiosyncratic way Yoda speaks, which has remained amusing for 35 years, has been used to great effect by many. But please don't try it when taking about CBCR. That way peril lies!!

If at first you don’t sucCCCTB…

How similar are Chris Evans (newly announced presenter of BBC Top Gear) and David Gauke (UK Financial Secretary to the Treasury)? I know, a question we have asked all too often.

Later today the European Commission will provide more detail on a revival of the Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base, or CCCTB.

Mention CCCTB to any tax professional who has been around for a while and you will get a similar response. Cue rolling of eyes and a little chuckle.  We’ve been here before. Or so we think.

What becomes of the broken haven?

Much of the current tax debate centres on the use of “tax havens” by certain multinational enterprises (“MNEs”). It is undeniable that some large corporates and high net worth individuals are using such jurisdictions to reduce their tax, hide illicit activity, or both.

And there are a number of initiatives aimed at tackling this. These include country-by-country reporting (“CBCR”) and information exchange agreements.

The aim? To eliminate nefarious activity, and ensure that activities are taxed in the right place, and to the right extent. And who will lose out? Evil MNEs of course. Anyone else?

The Tax Avoidance Magic Porridge Pot

The Magic Porridge Pot is a children’s story about a porridge pot which is magic. The clue is in the title. What is magic is that the porridge pot keeps refilling, however much you eat.

Was Amazon diverted, and is it now back on course?

Clearly Amazon is not the only multi-national enterprise (“MNE”) to have been challenged over its approach to tax. The spotlight continues to sweep the horizon waiting for another company to be caught in the glare. However, it looks as though Amazon has blinked first.

Is HMRC due a review?

In an article for Accountancy, Bill Dodwell, Head of Tax Policy at Deloitte, has called for a "short external review" of HMRC, as part of rebuilding public confidence in the UK tax authority.

Last month, Paul Aplin wrote on this same subject in Taxation, and called for a "comprehensive, informed, independent, impartial review"

gplus uk post: uk election - a tax landscape in the style of Picasso

The pan-european public affairs and communications firm g+ europe has posted an opinion piece on the UK general election and tax policy, which I authored.

It can be found here.

The UK General Election: A look back at the last five years

The UK has had five years of coalition government, but more strikingly five years when tax has become a daily topic in the media, with multinationals facing a volatile climate of mistrust.

In parallel, and prompted by the G20, the OECD BEPS process has seen international tax change from a rather outmoded caterpillar, and go into a two year chrysalis state.

The star-studded FEE Tax Day

On 29 April, FEE* held its 4^th Tax Day in Brussels. As well as a healthy debate on the state of tax policy, the event also doubled as the launch of FEEs innovative report entitled “The Future of Tax Policy: A Matter for Society as a Whole”. This brings together a range of 22 opinions from across the spectrum into a single publication.

200 policy makers, business leaders and tax experts from 26 European countries attended the event, including some “stars” of the world of tax:

• Pascal Saint-Amans of the OECD;
• Commissioner Moscovici;
• Pierre Gremegna the Luxembourg Minister of Finance;
• Martin Kreienbaum DG International Tax at the German Finance Ministry; and
• Michael Izza CEO of ICAEW.

gplus uk post: UK Budget 2015

The UK office of the pan-european public affairs agency g+ europe has posted an opinion piece on the UK Budget, to which I contributed.

It can be found here.

The US contribution to uncertainty

I co-authored a piece back in December, at the time of the DPT announcement, which highlighted the danger of unilateral tax reform by the UK, and the uncertainly this would generate. It can be found here.

Now the US has joined in, with a proposal from President Obama  to impose a levy on the  cash being held offshore by US corporations. The stated aim is to raise $200 billion from the estimated $2 trillion being held outside the reach of the US tax net.

Fair Tax Mark article in The Times

There is an excellent piece in The Times today by Patrick Hosking entitled: The corporate tax system is open to abuse but measures are afoot to plug loopholes.

As well as mentioning all the usual topics such as Google, Starbucks, Amazon, Ireland, Luxembourg, OECD, G20, Bermuda etc, it sets out some of the key benefits of Fair Tax Mark accreditation, both from a consumer and business perspective.

On Monday 5 January 2015, The Crowd hosted another successful event, this time entitled The CFO’s Dilemma. The key theme was the potential dilemma facing CFOs as to whether short term pressures can be balanced with long term sustainable value. Whether the investment in sustainable development (“SD”), with returns which are long term, and sometimes difficult to quantify, is consistent with a fiduciary duty to shareholders to create value.