TaxWatch published an article in Taxation magazine last week about the launch of the Funding the Nation report by ARC, the union for senior staff within HMRC.
The report identifies changes required to turn HMRC into a world class tax authority after years of underinvestment. It includes contributions from TaxWatch and many others involved in the tax world.
Stronger powers against ‘enablers’ – those who design and enable aggressive tax avoidance and evasion – are back on the table once again. But new figures show that existing powers are still not being used.
Even after years of attempts at reform, offshore havens still offer secrecy for those determined to hide money and evade tax. In a week when Britain’s Overseas Territories have ignored yet another deadline for functioning ‘beneficial ownership’ registers, new figures on UK tax enforcement stemming from the Pandora Papers show that leaks can’t supplant properly available information about who really owns offshore companies.