Firms face exclusion from mixer debate.
Accountancy firms could be excluded from the debate on mixer companies after paymaster general Dawn Primarolo told MPs she preferred to deal directly with companies and not their advisers.
The March Budget introduced a measure tightening tax rules on the profits of multinational companies which use mixers to minimise British tax liabilities.
During the Finance Bill committee debates, shadow Treasury spokesman Oliver Letwin urged Primarolo to listen to pleas from leading firms over the proposals.
‘Will the paymaster general undertake that if representatives of leading accountancy firms make representations about the matter, she will table an amendment to deal with the problem?’ he asked.
But Primarolo replied: ‘Many firms that might wish to do that would never have had to put in a direct claim themselves. We are doing much better than that by negotiating directly with specialists in companies that make such claims to ensure everything is as they require in terms of putting the arrangements on a statutory footing.’
She added: ‘I take those who are involved in running those sections in companies more seriously than accountancy firms.’