The Treasury select committee’s newly announced ‘Shifting Sands’ inquiry into UK tax policy and the tax base kicks off with its first session next week, which will hear evidence from CIOT, the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) and veteran tax campaigner Richard Murphy chaired by Andrew Tyrie MP
Andrew Tyrie, the select committee chair, promised a ‘radical’ review of tax policy in the wake of the controversy surrounding HMRC’s £130m deal with Google to settle a decade of back tax payments.
The evidence session on the morning of Tuesday 2 February will hear from John Cullinane, CIOT’s tax policy director, John Whiting, tax director at the OTS, and Richard Murphy, director, Tax Research.
The inquiry will look at how tax policy is made, how tax collection is administered and how to address the vulnerability of the tax base. The select committee website states: ‘The inquiry will look at whether the tax system, including the making of tax policy and the administration of tax by HMRC, is fit for purpose for the 21st century.’
It goes on to say: ‘The complexity of tax law is turning what should be a straightforward principle – that everybody should pay the correct amount of tax – in to a piece of elastic. For corporation tax, for instance, the problem is exacerbated by the globalisation of economic activity and any liability to tax that accompanies it.’
The committee session at 10am on 2 February can be viewed live on Parliament TV here