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.