Opposition Day — Tax Avoidance — International Efforts — 11 Feb 2015 at 18:48

The majority of MPs voted to support the early adoption of the new global standard on automatic exchange of tax information intended to reduce tax avoidance and to welcome other measures to reduce the exploitation of differences in tax regimes between countries.

The motion supported by the majority of MPs in this vote replaced an entire opposition motion with the following:

• That this house
• notes that while the release of information pertaining to malpractice between 2005 to 2007 by individual HSBC account holders was public knowledge, at no point were Ministers made aware of individual cases due to taxpayer confidentiality or made aware of leaked information suggesting wrongdoing by HSBC itself;
• notes that this Government has specifically taken action to get back money lost in Swiss bank accounts;
• welcomes the over £85 billion secured in compliance yield as a result of that action, including £850 million from high net worth individuals;
• notes the previous administration’s record, where private equity managers could pay a lower tax rate than their cleaners, very wealthy homebuyers could avoid stamp duty and companies could shift their profits to tax havens;
• further recognises that this Government has closed tax loopholes left open by the previous administration in every year of this Parliament, introduced the UK’s first General Anti-Abuse Rule, removed the cashflow advantage of holding onto the money whilst disputing tax due with HMRC, and allowed HMRC to monitor, fine and publicly name promoters of tax avoidance schemes;
• notes this Government’s leading international role in tackling base erosion and profit shifting;
• welcomes the commitment to implement the G20-OECD agreed model for country-by-country reporting and rules for neutralising hybrid mismatch arrangements;
• notes the role of the diverted profits tax in countering aggressive tax planning by large multinationals;
• supports the Government’s adoption of the early adopters initiative; and
• recognises that as a result the UK is collecting more tax than ever before.”

Prior the consideration of this motion the majority of MPs had rejected the original motion text and voted against introducing a penalty regime for the general anti-abuse rule and against other measures intended to reduce tax avoidance.

Debate in Parliament | Source |