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The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is looking at what happens at the UK Border when the Brexit transition period ends on 31 December 2020. The Committee has questioned senior officials from a number of government departments on the Government’s preparedness for the end of the transition period.

The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee held a session with representatives of HMRC and the Treasury on Thursday 12 November 2020 as part of its inquiry into COVID-19 and employment. The hearing focused on the job support schemes implemented since the start of the pandemic. Witnesses from HMRC at this session were Jim Harra, Chief Executive, and Jo Rowland, Temporary Director General, COVID-19 Response Unit. Witnesses from the Treasury were Beth Russell, Director General for Tax and Welfare, and Sir Tom Scholar, Permanent Secretary. The MPs referred to a recent NAO report ‘Implementing employment support schemes in response to the COVID-19 pandemic’, but the questions and comments covered a much wider area.

The Scottish Parliament’s Finance and Constitution Committee took evidence from John Cullinane, CIOT’s director of public policy and Charlotte Barbour, director of taxation with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS) last week (4 November) as part of their scrutiny of the 2021-22 Scottish Budget.

You can watch a video of the session (starting from 10:53:09) on the Scottish Parliament website by clicking here. The official report of proceedings can also be found on the Scottish Parliament’s website here.

The House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee’s Finance Bill Sub-Committee has questioned representatives of HMRC, the IFS Tax Law Review Committee and TaxWatch, and a tax tribunal judge, as part of its inquiry into new HMRC powers contained in Draft Finance Bill 2020-21.