Finance (No. 2) Bill — New Clause 7 — Reporting on Provisions Relating to Publication of Information about Tax Avoidance Schemes — 1 Dec 2021 at 17:15

The majority of MPs voted not to require a report on the impact of publishing information about tax avoidance schemes.

MPs were considering the Finance (No. 2) Bill.^[1][2][3]

The proposed new clause rejected in this vote was titled: Reporting on provisions relating to publication of information about tax avoidance schemes and stated:

• (1) The Chancellor of the Exchequer must, within three months of the passing of this Act, lay before the House of Commons and publish a review of the impact of measures contained within this Act that relate to the publication by HMRC of information about tax avoidance schemes.
• (2) The review undertaken by the Chancellor under subsection (1) must include commissioning an independent assessment of the information published by HMRC about disguised remuneration loan schemes.
• (3) The independent assessment under subsection (2) must include consideration of the following with respect to the purposes set out in section 85(1)(a) and (b) of this Act—
• (a) HMRC’s approach to the loan charge scheme; and
• (b) recommendations for altering that approach.
• (4) The Government must before the review commences make a statement to the House of Commons stating what efforts have been taken to guarantee the independence of the assessment under subsection (2).
• (5) The Government must within three months of the publication of the review under subsection (1) make a statement to the House of Commons stating which of any recommendations under subsection (3)(b) it will be accepting, and give reasons for any decision not to accept one or more of those recommendations.
• (6) The Government must every six months after the publication of the review in subsection (1) make a statement to the House of Commons stating what progress has been made towards implementing any of the recommendations that arise from subsection (3)(b) which the Government has accepted.’

The rejected new clause was accompanied by the following explanatory statement from its proposer:

• This new clause would require the Government to review the impact of measures contained in clause 85 of the Bill, and as part of that to commission an independent review of the information published by HMRC about disguised remuneration loan schemes. This independent assessment must consider HMRC’s approach to the loan charge scheme and consider recommendations for altering that approach, and the Government would be required to state to the House its response to the recommendations.

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• [1] Parliament's webpage on the Finance (No. 2) Bill, Parliament.uk
• [2] The Finance (No. 2) Bill (as introduced), 4 November 2021, Parliament.uk
• [3] Explanatory notes to the Finance (No. 2) Bill, Parliament.uk
• [4] Section 269DA of the Corporation Tax Act 2010, Legislation.gov.uk
• [5] Annual Investment Allowance, Gov.uk

Debate in Parliament |