Commenting specifically on tackling tax avoidance that was mentioned by the Chancellor, Crawford Temple, CEO of Professional Passport, the UK’s largest independent assessor of payment intermediary compliance said:
“It is disappointing that we have heard no proactive measures from the Chancellor in today’s budget to clamp down on tax avoidance. Opening up another consultation to discuss tax avoidance when they have sought the views of experts already is simply delaying any action. We are still waiting to hear a response from the Call for evidence into the umbrella sector which is long overdue. And all the while, tax avoidance schemes are allowed to thrive. Introducing and increasing prison sentences is simply a case of shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted. Reacting to the crime is simply not good enough when HMRC has all the real-time data it needs to address and punish the perpetrators of tax avoidance now.
“We don’t need any more consultations – we need a working party of experts from the industry to sit down with HMRC and Government to discuss policy. There has been nothing in this Budget to indicate a real acceptance of the size of the problem and simply demonstrates the lack of real commitment and appetite that the Government has to tackle non-compliance and tax avoidance.”
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