The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Anti-Corruption and
Responsible Tax has released a policy
paper, highlighting what it describes as ‘widespread concern over the last
decade regarding settlements between HMRC and large businesses’ and noting that
accountability for these settlements is constrained by both taxpayer
confidentiality and HMRC’s legal relationship with the Treasury.
The paper proposes two specific policy interventions:
1. a statutory
pathway for disclosure of taxpayer information for the purposes of
parliamentary scrutiny of HMRC settlements with large corporate taxpayers; and
2. an amendment to
the legislation governing HMRC’s relationship with the Treasury, prioritising
HMRC’s duties in respect of revenue collection over its obligation to pursue
Treasury policy priorities.
The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Anti-Corruption and
Responsible Tax has released a policy
paper, highlighting what it describes as ‘widespread concern over the last
decade regarding settlements between HMRC and large businesses’ and noting that
accountability for these settlements is constrained by both taxpayer
confidentiality and HMRC’s legal relationship with the Treasury.
The paper proposes two specific policy interventions:
1. a statutory
pathway for disclosure of taxpayer information for the purposes of
parliamentary scrutiny of HMRC settlements with large corporate taxpayers; and
2. an amendment to
the legislation governing HMRC’s relationship with the Treasury, prioritising
HMRC’s duties in respect of revenue collection over its obligation to pursue
Treasury policy priorities.
