Tax expert warns against anti-avoidance ‘witch hunt’

A tax expert has questioned the need for measures to strengthen the disclosure of tax avoidances scheme (DOTAS) regime, arguing that HMRC is ‘already equipped with a formidable array of weapons in the battle against tax avoidance’.

Jonathan Levy, Tax Partner at RPC (pictured), said no-one could question that ‘the public interest lies in a fair and efficient tax collection system’. HMRC should be given the necessary resources to tackle its responsibilities and ‘should not have to cope with the stringent cuts that have been imposed in recent times’.

But, he added, it was not clear what benefits would arise from the addition of ‘yet more pages of legislation’ to the statute book.

‘There are also unwelcome signs that a “witch hunt” is being waged against tax advisers who have designed and implemented tax structures and those who have participated in these structures,’ he said in a blog on the RPC website. ‘The concern here is that the confidentiality that such taxpayers are entitled to will be compromised and the promoters themselves subject to the levying of penalties and other legislation that may be contrary to provisions in the Human Rights Act.’