The Government supports the work of the OECD's task force on tax and development which is examining the issue of country-by-country reporting, business minister Edward Davey said in a Commons written answer.
The Tax Avoidance Schemes (Prescribed Descriptions of Arrangements) (Amendment) Regulations, SI 2010/2834, amend with effect from 1 January 2011 some of the descriptions of schemes that are required to be disclosed, in order to ‘improve their focus upon tax avoidance’.
HMRC is inviting applications for its Tax Professional Development Programme, in an advertisement that describes the work of skilled tax professionals dealing with complex tax work as ‘fascinating, vital work that helps keep the UK working’.
In a move to cut costs, HMRC will no longer send written confirmation of the User ID to new users registering to use an online service.
HMRC will continue to issue the Activation Code by letter, and will send a letter when a customer has lost the User ID.
HMRC has presented a series of awards for advancing transparency in tax. In a ceremony at 11 Downing Street Dave Hartnett, HMRC’s Permanent Secretary for Tax, said: ‘Making the tax system simple and transparent is of vital importance. HMRC has to recognise that we cannot do this alone.’
The Treasury announced five consultations on 29 November dealing with controlled foreign companies, taxation of foreign profits, profits arising from patents and R&D tax credits:
Anneli Collins on findings from a recent survey of businesses on their tax priorities
A survey of tax agents on the filing of self assessment tax returns will remain open until midnight on Sunday, 28 November, the CIOT has said.
The Treasury Committee has launched an inquiry into the principles which should underpin the UK tax policy, a fortnight after the Office for Tax Simplification revealed that the system has more than 1,000 reliefs.
Calls for a new accounting standard requiring country by country reporting reflect a lack of public trust in corporate behaviour, PwC said as it revealed that Vodafone had been ‘highly commended’ for transparency in tax reporting.