Max Baucus, Senate Finance Committee chairman, has decided to not seek re-election and opinion is divided over whether this announcement improves or hampers the prospects for a comprehensive reform of the US tax code.
The UK Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has urged a ban on external accountants working temporarily inside government, as well as calling for tax code simplification, in its latest report Tax avoidance: The role of large accountancy firms.
HMRC has tried to provide greater clarity around the GAAR HM Revenue & Customs has released new guidance on the UK's General Anti-Abuse Rule (GAAR), which is scheduled to come into effect in July, after the Finance Bill 2013 becomes law. While the GAAR was always intended to apply to income tax, corporation tax, capital gains tax, inheritance tax, petroleum revenue tax, stamp duty land tax and annual tax on enveloped dwellings, the new guidance indicates it will also apply to national insurance contributions (NICs), subject to separate legislation being passed.
According to a recent report from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the end of the double taxation avoidance agreement between India and Mauritius is a high risk that would have a drastic impact on the Mauritian economy.
Eric Schmidt, Google’s executive chairman, has publicly defended his company’s corporation tax payments in the UK, but his comments are likely to rile subscribers to the Margaret Hodge (Labour MP) viewpoint that business obligations extend beyond compliance with the letter of the law.
