Contributions
513 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDFinance (No. 2) Bill (Sixth sitting)Could I ask for a little clarity on that? Does that mean that there will be a list, and that an adviser will get three months from the point at which they are published on the…03 Feb 2026HANSARDFinance (No. 2) Bill (Sixth sitting)That was sterling support for a terrible idea. The Office for Budget Responsibility was brought in back in 2010 to try to keep an eye on what had been going on through the…03 Feb 2026HANSARDFinance (No. 2) Bill (Sixth sitting)This is all pretty uncontroversial, but there is one concern with clause 246, which states that the commencement date will be May this year. Although they have pushed this back by…03 Feb 2026HANSARDFinance (No. 2) Bill (Sixth sitting)Clause 241 and schedule 20 provide more details about the review and appeals process that HMRC will operate. They also confirm that HMRC must offer a review where there is an…03 Feb 2026HANSARDFinance (No. 2) Bill (Sixth sitting)The clauses follow a recent Delegated Legislation Committee debate that the Minister and I had, as a result of which we are going to get together with some members of the industry…03 Feb 2026HANSARDFinance (No. 2) Bill (Sixth sitting)Clauses 156 to 162 will place a statutory ban on promoting tax avoidance arrangements that have no realistic prospect of success. The clauses also set out the civil and criminal…03 Feb 2026HANSARDFinance (No. 2) Bill (Sixth sitting)The broad thrust of the measure is perfectly reasonable. As we go into a more digital world, it is perfectly acceptable that people should be required to interact with HMRC…03 Feb 2026HANSARDFinance (No. 2) Bill (Sixth sitting)I agree. At the end of the day, we want to nail down people who have promoted those dodgy things, but at the same time we are a country with justice. If it takes more than 30 days…03 Feb 2026HANSARDFinance (No. 2) Bill (Sixth sitting)I thank the Minister for explaining what the clauses are all about. We are slightly worried about what they do not set out, which is the threshold for HMRC to pursue a criminal…03 Feb 2026HANSARDFinance (No. 2) Bill (Sixth sitting)Clauses 174 to 185 relate to anti-avoidance information notices. They also provide that they can be issued to connected persons, third parties and financial institutions. The make…03 Feb 2026HANSARDFinance (No. 2) Bill (Sixth sitting)We would all agree that there is certainly a need to enhance HMRC’s ability to catch promoters of tax avoidance schemes. According to HMRC, there is currently a tax gap of about…03 Feb 2026HANSARDFinance (No. 2) Bill (Sixth sitting)Welcome to your position, Mrs Harris. I hope you will indulge me a little if I go back into some of the history of this place. I have been here for 15 years, which I think is…03 Feb 2026HANSARDFinance (No. 2) Bill (Sixth sitting)We did have a war and a pandemic.03 Feb 2026HANSARDFinance (No. 2) Bill (Sixth sitting)As with earlier clauses, we agree with these measures, which will help to streamline the process and allow HMRC to quickly cancel benefits such as gross payment status where there…03 Feb 2026HANSARDFinance (No. 2) Bill (Sixth sitting)Clauses 206 to 212 introduce measures to address the involvement of some legal professionals in tax avoidance schemes, and I reassure the Minister that we support what the clauses…03 Feb 2026HANSARDFinance (No. 2) Bill (Sixth sitting)I think we all agree with the sincerity of the intention, but the problem is that there is always a grey area at the boundary. The question is how we define that area so that we…03 Feb 2026HANSARDFinance (No. 2) Bill (Sixth sitting)This is all fairly straightforward. We are delighted that, since coming to power 18 months ago, the Government have decided that they are going to follow on with the great…03 Feb 2026HANSARDFinance (No. 2) Bill (Sixth sitting)The clauses focus on compliance notices and ineligibility orders. Again, we support the thrust of the clauses, but the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales has…03 Feb 2026HANSARDFinance (No. 2) Bill (Sixth sitting)I wholeheartedly agree. The more we discuss it in public, the more the general public will realise that avoiding tax is a very bad thing. Anything that highlights that point is to…03 Feb 2026HANSARDFinance (No. 2) Bill (Sixth sitting)The Minister is being very indulgent. The Liberal Democrats and I are probably as one on this point. The reason it is incredibly important that we get this right, and the reason I…03 Feb 2026