Taxpayers have a right to know their rights

Experts have called for something outlining taxpayer’s rights and responsibilities for some time but recent events have seen those demands renewed with far more vigour.

It’s difficult to see what the objections are. Simply put the bill, which needn’t mean legislation, would set out taxpayers’ responsibilities, but more importantly their rights.

With the tax system becoming ever more complex and HMRC seeking ever more stringent powers, it seems only fair that taxpayers have their rights enshrined in an unambiguous document so that the taxman knows exactly what its obligations are.

Last week HMRC was reported as having made errors in the affairs of at least one million people, while looking for new powers to seize funds from bank accounts.

As Geoff and Diana Jones have found in their fight over Arctic Systems, HMRC has a lot of money to throw at lawyers. A bill of rights, or taxpayer’s charter, might very well give someone the legal weapon necessary to even up the sides in instead of leaving stand off between taxpayers and HMRC hopelessly mismatched.

At the moment government shows little sign of warming to the idea. This may be because it fears that, as in the US, a bill of rights could be used to limit the size of the state by placing limits on a regime’s tax raising abilities.

This can be easily side stepped, if it is made clear at the outset what the bill or charter is for. Indeed, we could write up a number of documents aimed at specific needs.

While Gordon Brown is keen on a laying out the rights and responsibilities of citizens, the reasons for failing to address the needs of taxpayers seem unconvincing.