The new president of the ATT, Michael Steed, has staked out a robust defence of the ‘responsible centre ground of tax planning’, arguing that the business or individual taxpayer which does not plan ahead opens themselves up to unintended and often unfair tax consequences.
Steed made his remarks in his inaugural speech as president at the ATT’s AGM. He said: ‘We are daily bombarded by media comment on “tax dodging” by either individuals or multinationals; our job as an educational charity, together with the CIOT, has never been in sharper focus or more needed. We need to engage, inform and educate the public about what we do and who we are as the ATT and not to be afraid to say that we are not mere tax collectors in our compliance role, but de facto tax advisers to a wide range of individuals and businesses. I am clear that we would never condone evasion and everything that we do as ATT members would be within the scope of the PCRT, published in May 2015. But we do need to ensure that taxpayers are aware of the full tax consequences of their actions. Because the business or individual taxpayer that doesn’t plan ahead opens themselves up to tax consequences that are not just unexpected, but unnecessary, unintended and frequently downright unfair.’
The new president of the ATT, Michael Steed, has staked out a robust defence of the ‘responsible centre ground of tax planning’, arguing that the business or individual taxpayer which does not plan ahead opens themselves up to unintended and often unfair tax consequences.
Steed made his remarks in his inaugural speech as president at the ATT’s AGM. He said: ‘We are daily bombarded by media comment on “tax dodging” by either individuals or multinationals; our job as an educational charity, together with the CIOT, has never been in sharper focus or more needed. We need to engage, inform and educate the public about what we do and who we are as the ATT and not to be afraid to say that we are not mere tax collectors in our compliance role, but de facto tax advisers to a wide range of individuals and businesses. I am clear that we would never condone evasion and everything that we do as ATT members would be within the scope of the PCRT, published in May 2015. But we do need to ensure that taxpayers are aware of the full tax consequences of their actions. Because the business or individual taxpayer that doesn’t plan ahead opens themselves up to tax consequences that are not just unexpected, but unnecessary, unintended and frequently downright unfair.’
