Ramsay for Dummies

The proposed changes to CGT and residence/domicile are making a lot of work for tax planners - it's an ill wind that blows no good! As well as negotiating mountains of legislation, advisers also have to consider the case law as it applies to tax avoidance and this has been a complex and changing area. Thanks to this brilliant article by Patrick Soares, we can all save some time and leave the tax cases on the Ramsay principle on the shelf.

Tax is becoming too simple!

According to an article in the FT, the Chartered Institute of Taxation is complaining that the tax system is being over-simplified! Perhaps that is a slight misrepresentation of the truth - which is that the Institute is criticising the rewriting of the complex and "arcane" provisions relating to the taxation of derivatives and corporate loan relationships. The grounds for complaint are that, firstly, the process of "simplification" is in danger of undoing the Government's previous work in eliminating the many loopholes and issues thrown up the original legislation and, secondly, there is no point in taking this risk because the legislation is only really relevant to taxpayers with professional advisers who are well able to understand the legislation as it is currently drafted.

HMRC have pooh-poohed these suggestions, saying that the majority of users/customers/victims (not sure what the current term is) of the legislation do not agree with the Institute's views. Are they mad?

Welcome

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I will be posting more articles on this site in the coming weeks.