Scrap corporate taxes and revolutionise system
City AM editor Allister Heath calls for major overhaul of business taxation
City AM editor Allister Heath calls for major overhaul of business taxation
THE BUSINESS TAX regime should be scrapped and replaced with a “lowish” tax on distributed income, according to City AM editor Allister Heath.
Writing in the Telegraph, Heath calls the current system of business taxation “mad and indefensible”, with corporation tax being particularly unfair due to the offsets that some companies can make against their profits.
His comments come in the wake of multinationals’ appearance in front of the Public Accounts Committee, including Starbucks (pictured), over concerns that they use complex structures and techniques to avoid tax.
“The result is an incoherent, nightmarish tax that is clearly not fit for purpose and increasingly regular show trials, where legislators berate companies for following their own legislation but are unable to suggest any sensible reforms,” said Heath.
Instead, a levy on income distributed to investors, which would include dividends, share buy-backs and interest payments, should replace the current business tax regime.
“This new levy would capture and tax just once all income generated from UK-based economic activity, dramatically reducing avoidance as well as the present double, triple or even quadruple taxation,” said Heath.
“Cash flows to investors from UK-generated activity would be taxed, not ‘profits’, so incentives to manipulate would disappear.”
More about:
The numbers you crunch tell a story. Your expertis...
11yEmbracing user-friendly AP systems can turn the tide, streamlining workflows, enhancing compliance, and opening doors to early payment discounts. Read...
View articleOrganisations can enhance their financial operations' efficiency, accuracy, and responsiveness by adopting platforms that offer them self-service cust...
View articleIn a world of instant results and automated workloads, the potential for AP to drive insights and transform results is enormous. But, if you’re still ...
View resourceDiscover how AP dashboards can transform your business by enhancing efficiency and accuracy in tracking key metrics, as revealed by the latest insight...
View articleWith proposals for an Amazon tax on the table, how can the UK tax system catch up with the implications of the Fourth Industrial Revolution? Read More...
View articleGlobal corporations are under increasing scrutiny over how much corporation tax they pay. So who are the latest big names hitting the headlines over t...
View articleThe EU is deeply divided over how to increase the tax take from tech giants such as Google, Apple and Amazon, who have recently come under fire for be...
View articleTo avoid falling foul of HMRC's tax crackdown, small businesses now have to be much more vigilant when it comes to tax matters, and it's an ideal oppo...
View articleLaw firm warns that HMRC focus on entrepreneur’s relief could prompt increase in avoidance scheme usage Read More...
View articleDiverted profits tax revenue collected by HMRC in 2016-17 totalled £281m, leaping from £31m collected in the previous year, according to data released...
View articleBillions of pounds of infrastructure investment planned; but tax tinkering still looms following Philip Hammond's first Autumn Statement Read More...
View articleAs advisers prepare for another Autumn Statement, they and their clients hope to avoid the grip of more red tape Read More...
View article