Dear Ed Balls… why Labour should support my anti-tax avoidance proposals

Today MICHAEL MEACHER will push again for a stronger anti-tax avoidance regime. Here, he urges the Labour frontbench to support his proposal.

Dear Ed,

A few months ago I put forward my General Anti-Tax Avoidance Principle Bill (GANTIP) for second reading. As a Private Member’s Bill low in the order it did not make progress, though it did receive sympathetic support from the Front Bench. I am now putting it forward again on the first day of the Finance Bill committee stage tomorrow, and am now asking that you use this opportunity for Labour to give a clear commitment that it will introduce GANTIP as soon as it is elected to office. There are several very strong reasons to do so.

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My bill to allow HMRC to strike down tax avoidance schemes

On Thursday I obtained under the backbench business committee procedure a 3-hour debate on the floor of the House on tax avoidance.

It was good timing because the next day marked the end of the Goverment’s consultation on its proposal for a GAAR (General Anti-Abuse Rule), and the debate centred around the relative merits of the Government’s promotion of GAAR versus my promotion of GANTIP (General Anti-Tax Avoidance Principle) bill.

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