Pavilionaire
Well-known member
- Jul 7, 2003
- 31,099
As an accountant I've just called my professional body about Chancellor Osborne's abolition of Tax Returns announcement in yesterday's Budget. Their response: there was no consultation process about this - the government and HMRC just went ahead and did it, there is only a 9-page HMRC White Paper about it and no other documentation to shed any light re the technicalities, filing or implementation requirements, nobody knows when the nitty-gritty will be published and nobody knows when "early 2016" - the start date - actually is.
The technical advisor I spoke with was candid in his pessimism. My professional body hastily emailed all members immediately after the Budget seeking responses saying "Please send your comments, if possible, by close of business on 19 March", so just 28 hours after the Budget!
Don't get me wrong, I think the aims are laudable but the undue haste of this in the run-up to a General Election is astounding. Interestingly, Labour have made absolutely no comment on the subject, they could have agreed with the aim but disagreed with the implementation / timetable, they're just too lily-livered to be seen to disagree with the populist move of getting rid of Tax Returns.
No one comes out of this with any credit. Utter shambles, a disaster waiting to happen.
The technical advisor I spoke with was candid in his pessimism. My professional body hastily emailed all members immediately after the Budget seeking responses saying "Please send your comments, if possible, by close of business on 19 March", so just 28 hours after the Budget!
Don't get me wrong, I think the aims are laudable but the undue haste of this in the run-up to a General Election is astounding. Interestingly, Labour have made absolutely no comment on the subject, they could have agreed with the aim but disagreed with the implementation / timetable, they're just too lily-livered to be seen to disagree with the populist move of getting rid of Tax Returns.
No one comes out of this with any credit. Utter shambles, a disaster waiting to happen.