A controversial weapon for countering tax avoidance is under fresh scrutiny just a few years after a similar proposal was dropped following protests from business, the Financial Times reports this morning.
The paper says tax officials have embarked on a study of the way that general anti-avoidance rules are being used in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Spain and other countries. These rules are often viewed as draconian because they are a broad-brush way of ruling out transactions aimed at avoiding tax. It claims HM Revenue & Customs has emphasised the study would not necessarily lead to a formal proposal. Dave Hartnett, a Revenue & Customs commissioner, said the study "may or may not, in time, lead to advice to our ministers", in recent evidence to a Lords committee. But tax advisers said ...
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