TSC tells govt: Taxman cannot be above the law

It made the statement in its latest report, ‘Principles of Tax Policy', where it outlines guiding principles for Britain's tax system. A key policy battleground is how to mitigate tax through legal means of avoidance. HMRC has embarked on a series of crackdowns on avoidance in order to claw back tax lost to the public coffers. The TSC report says legal clarity is important but HMRC's powers should be limited and subject to reasonable challenge in the courts. "Public interest in ensuring that the HMRC is not sole arbiter of the law overrides the interest in certainty." The report...