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.

Review of 2014

And so we arrive at the end of 2014. A momentous year for tax? Well perhaps. It may not have brought all the answers, or even really got to the bottom of some of the questions, but it certainly wasn’t dull!

Here are a few of my observations on the key events. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list, or even the definitive list of the most important announcements, but just a reminder of some of the milestones we have passed in the last 12 months.

Enjoy, but please also feel free to comment on any other landmarks you think should be included.

g+ blog: What does the UK Government want to tax?

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

It can be found here.

The Autumn Statement: Diversion Ahead?

The Autumn Statement was quite a mixed bag, at least in part, aimed at the elections in May. There was the usual pre-election tax giveaway, combined with some strong economic governance messages, all packaged with a big blue ribbon. It will provide plenty of ammunition for all parties to use in the campaign. So there’s something to look forward to!

Fair Tax Mark

I'm absolutely delighted to be able to announce that Engaged Consulting has become the very first independent licensed Fair Tax Mark Assessor.