The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on responsible tax, which is chaired by former Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chair Labour MP Margaret Hodge, is calling on the public to submit their contributions and ideas on how to make the tax system fairer and more transparent, starting with an analysis of the OECD’s BEPS (Base Erosion and Profit Shifting) proposals to clamp down on the use of aggressive tax avoidance by multinationals
Hodge said: ‘We want to start an open discussion around the responsible tax agenda with as many people with a broad range of views. By enabling the public to contribute their views directly on to the site, interested parties can observe the development of our work in real time and look at contributions from others.
‘During my time as chair of PAC it was clear that openness and transparency lie at the heart of any successful project. I hope that we set a new standard for transparency for APPGs and groups of this kind.’
Like all APPGs, it is an informal groups of members of both Houses with a common interest in particular issues, and aims to facilitate an open dialogue between parliamentarians and representatives from large and small businesses, industry groups, NGOs and campaigning groups, academia, and other taxpayers, to work towards a shared understanding of what responsible tax behaviour entails and how it can be encouraged.
The website states: ‘Our use of digital tools will enable direct and transparent contributions of evidence and commentary from experts, key stakeholders and the wider public. Members of the public will be able to observe, in real-time, the development our work and the contributions from others.’
The first four-week public consultation will be launched on 23 November and will focus on the OECD’s BEPS process and subsequent recommendations to the G20.
Next year, it also plans to look at HMRC’s capacity to deliver fair tax, as well as conducting an examination of tax reliefs and simplification of the tax system.
The group’s vice chairs are David Davis, Conservative MP for Haltemprice and Howden, and another former PAC chair, Richard Bacon, Conservative MP for South Norfolk who is a current member of the PAC, and Labour peer Lord McFall, who chaired the Treasury committee until 2010.
CIPFA and think-tank CoVi (Common Vision) will jointly provide the APPG with secretarial support. The APPG for responsible tax website is here
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