HMRC should formulate tax policy, claims ACCA
Power should move from HM Treasury to HMRC, said ACCA head
Power should move from HM Treasury to HMRC, said ACCA head
TAX POLICY-MAKING should be moved from HM Treasury to HM Revenue & Customs, the head of tax at ACCA has said.
Chas Roy-Chowdhury appeared before the House of Lords Finance Bill committee last week to discuss the performance of HMRC, disguised remuneration and corporation tax.
He told the Lords that the Treasury does not have the necessary expertise to develop tax policy. “We also did not see any problems about tax policy moving across to the Treasury but I think that is now a problem,” he said. “I think tax policy is in the wrong place. It ought to go back into HMRC. HMRC has the tax expertise.
“The Treasury has the economists, who have not probably ever dealt with tax, so we need to bring it back into HMRC, where the proper consultation happens, where there is proper expertise and where there is proper policy formulation.”
If this were to happen, HMRC would benefit further from “greater fertilisation from the private sector”. This would increase commercial awareness in the Revenue and “these people would actually engender a greater awareness of what taxpayers are up against,” he added.
Frank Haskew, head of tax at ICAEW, told the committee that there had to be better communication between the Treasury and HMRC. “HMRC has lots of practical expertise. I think the concern at the beginning of this process was that HM Treasury was not taking enough notice of HMRC’s practical experience, yet they are in the same building,” he said.
More about:
The numbers you crunch tell a story. Your expertis...
13yEmbracing user-friendly AP systems can turn the tide, streamlining workflows, enhancing compliance, and opening doors to early payment discounts. Read...
View articleOrganisations can enhance their financial operations' efficiency, accuracy, and responsiveness by adopting platforms that offer them self-service cust...
View articleIn a world of instant results and automated workloads, the potential for AP to drive insights and transform results is enormous. But, if you’re still ...
View resourceDiscover how AP dashboards can transform your business by enhancing efficiency and accuracy in tracking key metrics, as revealed by the latest insight...
View articleThe Low Income Tax Reform Group believes the government should have included tax initiatives in its plans for disabled people and employment Read More...
View articleThe revised guidance sets out the circumstances under which trustees need to disclose the identities of beneficiaries to HMRC Read More...
View articleHMRC's new leader claims that customer service levels are on the up Read More...
View articleThe government department made a very costly administration error in a letter to a tax avoidance user Read More...
View articleHMRC assessed the company for over £50,000 of underpaid VAT relating to the hire of the hotel’s Tamarisk Room Read More...
View articleThe number of investigations into high-value big companies that HMRC suspect of using transfer pricing to avoid tax has fallen by 15% in a year Read M...
View articleHMRC launches a consultation document that looks to strengthen government efforts against transfer mispricing Read More...
View articleHMRC taskforces have recovered more than £500m since they were launched five years ago Read More...
View article