The Treasury Select Committee (TSC) will investigate moves to retrospectively tax institutions accused of avoidance following a Treasury crackdown at Barclays last week.
The bank emerged as the target for two retrospective measures to close “aggressive” Corporation Tax avoidance schemes worth £500m.
Prompted by The Sunday Telegraph after Barclays was forced to shut the tax schemes, the House of Commons committee confirmed that they now want to look at the issue as part of its study into the upcoming Budget.
A committee spokesperson told AccountingWEB that it is unlikely a dedicated enquiry will be pursued due to a “lack of space in the calendar”, which is full up until June.
The TSC is meeting this week to discuss its forward programme, however the spokesperson said: “I don’t know if it would warrant overriding some of the other things that we want to do in the coming months.”
Upcoming sessions that will present an opportunity to push the retrospective tax issue include the Budget session where Chancellor George Osborne is expected to go before the committee; the publication of a new report on closing the tax gap next week; and a UKFI session in a couple of weeks’ time.
The committee will take a broader view of the tax system and issues of clarity, where the tax avoidance issue will be one line of enquiry.
The spokesperson said: “You’re either avoiding tax or your not – there shouldn’t be two standards that you’re judged against. One is legal and the other is in this blurred grey moral area, where some people say you’re legitimately minimising tax for business reasons and others will say you’re avoiding it.”
Committee chairman Andrew Tyrie told the Sunday Telegraph: "Can retrospection be reconciled with the certainty a tax system needs in order to deliver an efficient economy? A simpler, more stable and fairer tax system is less likely to excite demands for retrospection."
The bank emerged as the target for two retrospective measures to close “aggressive” Corporation Tax avoidance schemes worth £500m.
Prompted by The Sunday Telegraph after Barclays was forced to shut the tax schemes, the House of Commons committee confirmed that they now want to look at the issue as part of its study into the upcoming Budget.
A committee spokesperson told AccountingWEB that it is unlikely a dedicated enquiry will be pursued due to a “lack of space in the calendar”, which is full up until June.
The TSC is meeting this week to discuss its forward programme, however the spokesperson said: “I don’t know if it would warrant overriding some of the other things that we want to do in the coming months.”
Upcoming sessions that will present an opportunity to push the retrospective tax issue include the Budget session where Chancellor George Osborne is expected to go before the committee; the publication of a new report on closing the tax gap next week; and a UKFI session in a couple of weeks’ time.
The committee will take a broader view of the tax system and issues of clarity, where the tax avoidance issue will be one line of enquiry.
The spokesperson said: “You’re either avoiding tax or your not – there shouldn’t be two standards that you’re judged against. One is legal and the other is in this blurred grey moral area, where some people say you’re legitimately minimising tax for business reasons and others will say you’re avoiding it.”
Committee chairman Andrew Tyrie told the Sunday Telegraph: "Can retrospection be reconciled with the certainty a tax system needs in order to deliver an efficient economy? A simpler, more stable and fairer tax system is less likely to excite demands for retrospection."
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