A draft of what a UK Taxpayers' Charter could look like has been released today by the Chartered Institute of Taxation.
The release of the CIoT version of the charter follows financial secretary Jane Kennedy's January announcement that government will introduce a document outlining the rights and responsibilities of taxpayers and HM Revenue & Customs.
The CIoT has examined systems in other countries in the compilation of its charter and is adamant that if the document is to improve the relationship between taxpayers and HMRC then it has to go beyond standard customer service commitments.
Among the more contentious points in the CIoT's document will be its calls for the right of a taxpayer to minimise tax liabilities and the right not to be subject to retrospective taxation.
The CIoT believes the taxman should commit to sticking to its prior views on tax arrangements and should accept that there is a difference between 'lawful tax mitigation and unacceptable tax avoidance'. HMRC should also 'check very carefully' whether a taxpayer has engaged in 'unacceptable tax avoidance'.
The body also wants HMRC to provide companies with tax arrangements that are affected by new legislation with time to unwind the arrangements. As a general principle new tax law should only apply to events occurring after laws have changed.
The Institute also wants taxpayer's to have the right to be presumed honest and compliant, the right to Human Rights and European Community freedoms and the right to minimise compliance costs.
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