Why it would not be a great idea to make listed companies publish details of their tax affairs.
The suggestion made by Margaret Hodge who chairs the Public Accounts Committee that the tax affairs of publicly quoted companies should ‘be opened to public account’ (The Times 25 June) has a superficial attraction. Daylight is famously the best disinfectant so would not greater transparency help HMRC to clear up tax avoidance the pressures of publicity helping to persuade large taxpayers to pay their share?
A little thought on how it would really work quickly dispels the enthusiasm. Any expert who reads about his own subject in the press will tell you that it is badly misreported. That...
