You are here > Home > News
ACCA calls for renewed understanding of tax system
Accountancy News |
22/12/2011
The UK needs a renewed understanding of what makes an efficient and just tax system, it has been claimed.
According to the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), there is a critical need for greater trust in the tax system.
Earlier this week, the Public Accounts Committee criticised a number of "cosy" deals between HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) and big businesses.
MPs said large firms have tended to receive favourable treatment and there is a lack of public accountability over how deals are done.
Reinforcing its stance, ACCA has re-published its 12 Tenets of Tax, a policy paper originally published in 2009, to reinforce key strategic issues.
These are a presumption to tax neutrality; openness and transparency; simplification; certainty; accountability and regular review; tax policy is a percentage of GDP and efficiency.
ACCA also said that tax shifting and hypothecation have a role to play; that tax is a matter of national sovereignty and subject to the rule of law; that HMRC should have respect for human rights, and double taxation should be avoided.
Chas Roy-Chowdhury, head of taxation at ACCA, said individual tax payers will no doubt be "balking" at the deals done by business, and may even see this as unfair.
"We have to remember that HMRC is under-resourced, under pressure and have been something of a political football," he stated.
"We hope that 2012 will bring some much needed stability for them."
Mr Roy-Chowdhury said the tenets take account of the wider tax landscape and the new pressures facing governments.
"There will be a pressure on the government to ensure HMRC is doing the right thing and collecting the right tax at the right time, whether it's from a big business or from an individual tax payer or a small business," he added.
Posted by John Lynes
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Accountancy Recruitment Agency - Transparent Recruitment Fees Since 1999 - 12.5% Fee / 3 Month, 100% Rebate.
Sign up to our e-newsletter service to receive our headline news directly to your inbox
