Brown to clamp down on corporate tax avoidance
The chancellor is to step up government efforts to clamp down on corporate tax avoidance in a bid to halt advisers' attempts to circumvent the new disclosure regime.
Link: Plea for restraint over tax laws
It is understood Gordon Brown will announce in this week’s pre-Budget report moves to close a loophole that firms are exploiting to market avoidance schemes.
There’s evidence firms are encouraging clients to take up schemes during the five-day period between their launch and when advisers are required to disclose information to the tax authorities, according to The Financial Times.
From August this year, accountancy firms marketing avoidance schemes to their clients have to notify the authorities of the schemes they plan to sell within five days.
Attempts to require lawyers to disclose such information to the Inland Revenue failed because of their ‘privileged’ status. The onus to report has now been placed on lawyers’ clients to inform the Revenue.