Tax experts applaud Brown's fiscal plans
The decision by the chancellor to set up a parliamentary fiscal stability report has been applauded by tax experts. Such a move was first called for in Accountancy Age nearly three years ago.
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The initiative came as part of the chancellor’s statement on a referendum for the euro this week, which delayed a decision until the Budget in 2004.
In August 2000, Chas Roy-Chowdhury, head of tax at ACCA, wrote in Accountancy Age calling for a body to ‘monitor and propose tax legislation’.
A year later, John Whiting, then president of the Chartered Institute of Taxation, announced he would campaign for the creation of a tax policy committee that carried out similar work to the MPC’s management of interest rates.
During his euro speech on Monday, Brown proposed setting up a ‘regular fiscal stability report … ensuring that fiscal decisions are fully transparent and accountable’. The report would be published on a pre-announced timetable and would form part of the chancellor’s wider fiscal policy.