Blog

Angela Crawley, SNP, led a debate on universal basic income (UBI) in Westminster Hall on Wednesday. Labour and Conservative frontbenchers set out why they do not support UBI, but SNP and Lib Dem frontbenchers, and some Labour backbenchers, were more supportive of the idea.

A succession of Opposition MPs cited wealth inequality, unfairness in taxation of employment and wealth and the impact of the pandemic to support their calls for a wealth tax, during a 90 minute Westminster Hall debate on Tuesday 14 June. However the Government continues to oppose the idea, as do Labour, though the party’s spokesperson did not address the question directly in his remarks.

Scotland’s tax minister praised the input of the tax profession in helping to shape the country’s first framework for tax when he spoke at May’s CIOT/ATT Joint Presidents’ Lunch in Edinburgh.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has warned MPs and the public that the Government cannot fully insulate people from the cost-of-living crisis, and said that he is urgently looking at extending the energy profits levy to the electricity generation sector.

In a scathing report published last month (25 May) the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC) criticised ‘widespread non-compliance’ with IR35 tax reforms in central government departments. HMRC rushed implementation of the reforms, provided poor guidance and public bodies struggled with their tool to assess status, said the committee.

Scotland’s tax minister has reiterated the Scottish Government’s commitment to consider a finance bill for Holyrood.

Dame Margaret Hodge MP argued that a responsible tax system can restore public trust in the tax system and called on the tax profession to rise to the challenge of promoting better public understanding of tax.

HMRC is reviewing the registration requirements for owners of some goods stored in warehouses. They should scrap them, says excise duty expert Alan Powell in this guest blog.

New CIOT President Susan Ball promised a focus on inclusion, technology, internationalisation and tackling climate change, in her speech at the Institute's Annual General Meeting on 31 May 2022. She also offered comments on the windfall tax, employment status, regulation of the tax profession and HMRC service levels.

Outgoing CIOT President Peter Rayney's valedictory speech from the Institute's Annual General Meeting on 31 May 2022