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.