With public debt across Europe reaching unsustainable levels, governments are under more pressure than ever before to raise revenues without harming prospects for growth. This report examines different approaches to fiscal consolidation, and why better tax compliance has a key role to play; trends in both direct taxes and VAT rates; whether the proposed Financial Transaction Tax helps or hinders; the tax measures being introduced by several Member States (examining countries with record deficit levels as a proportion of GDP and those introducing new tax initiatives); tax policy issues for the UK; and the wider economic outlook for the Eurozone.
Businesses should be more transparent about the tax they pay and open themselves to greater scrutiny, David Gauke, the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, said in a speech to the Centre for Business Taxation at Oxford University.
The Finance Act 2010, Schedule 6, Part 1 (Further Consequential and Incidental Provision etc) Order, SI 2012/735, applies a new definition of ‘charity’ for the pu
‘Nick Clegg has been forced to soften proposals for a “tycoon tax” less than 48 hours after announcing it as a flagship policy at his Liberal Democrat party’s spring conference.
The Treasury Committee has questioned whether estimating the ‘tax gap’ serves any useful purpose in HMRC’s work and pointed out that encouraging taxpayers to pay the right tax voluntarily is ‘by far the most efficient way’ to close the gap.
It is ‘not possible’, because of taxpayer confidentiality, to estimate the collective losses that banks in which the state has an interest may set against future tax liabilities, Mark Hoban, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, said in a
Age-related tax allowances, the taxation of savings and ‘convoluted’ PAYE forms have been identified by the Office of Tax Simplification as the areas of the tax system that cause the most problems for pensioners.
Helen Lethaby provides your monthly update, which includes coverage of the government’s action to close down ‘abusive’ debt buyback planning retrospectively and the appointment of the new Assurance Commissioner to oversee large tax settlements.
A new YouGov poll shows a ‘strong demand for tougher government action’ on corporate tax avoidance, according to ActionAid, the anti-poverty group. The poll of 1,764 adults found that 79% thought the UK government was not doing enough to tackle avoidance by large businesses.