Tax experts insist that ‘most big companies have no interest in bending the rules’, The Sunday Times reported yesterday. Barclays had 'failed to sense a prevailing mood against tax avoidance’, according to the paper.
Aggressive tax planning using international ‘tax arbitrage’ is a growing concern and governments should consider introducing or revising tax laws to deny the benefits of ‘hybrid mismatch arrangements’, the OECD has concluded in a new report.
Barclays insisted that its tax arrangements were within ‘the letter and spirit’ of HMRC’s Code of Practice on Taxation for Banks after the government announced retrospective legislation to close two ‘highly abusive’ tax avoidance schemes.
‘Business leaders have come out in support of a proposed new weapon against aggressive tax avoidance, smoothing the way for George Osborne to advance the proposal in next month’s Budget.
The general anti-avoidance rule proposed by Graham Aaronson’s study group and now being considered by the government is a realistic response to today’s politics and would create a level playing field in the UK, according to John Bartlett, Head of Tax at BP plc.
HMRC has rewritten its guidance to the disclosure of tax avoidance schemes (DOTAS) regime.
Richard Carson reviews the new draft anti-avoidance regime for plant and machinery allowances and discovers that taxpayer concerns expressed during consultation are not entirely allayed.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Student Loans Company at the centre of controversy over his tax arrangements was advised to account for tax and national insurance contributions under special rules introduced to counter tax avoidance via personal service companies.