Foreign profits plan in Budget

The long-awaited results of the foreign profits taxation consultation will be announced in the Budget, the minutes of a meeting between HM Revenue & Customs and business heavyweights reveal.

The minutes, released last week, are from a meeting held last September, ahead of the pre-Budget report.

‘The pre-Budget report will update the position but not make any announcements. Finer developments will be reflected at Budget 2008, with introduction pending in 2009,’ the minutes said.

Confirmation that final proposals from the consultation will be announced will be welcomed by large corporates and advisers who have been awaiting the final proposals from the Treasury eagerly.

But at the meeting GlaxoSmithKline CFO Julian Heslop said HMRC needed to work with business at board level to ensure the outcome was not rushed.

Business representatives said there was ‘unease’ over the proposed rules for controlled foreign company taxation and that despite assurances from the Treasury, the package of changes would not be revenue neutral.