United Kingdom Petition For General Tax Amnesty At Number 10 Downing Street Website

Feb. 14, 2010 - PRLog -- A petition has been launched at http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/paytaxnow/.

Middle class professionals in the UK are facing an unprecedented crackdown on tax evasion by Government revenue inspectors.

Many people could well be looking at the very real possibility of facing severe financial penalties at the least or even criminal prosecution with jail terms at worst.

Under such circumstances as those, tax will be very taxing indeed, and will have very destructive personal consequences for the people caught in the tax net.

It has begun with the Medical professionals, who will be next? Lawyers, Accountants, you?

One thing is for certain the Small Businesses of the UK will be certain to be on the list as will be the self-employed in all sectors of the economy.

We are looking to stop this from happening by the implementation of a General Tax Amnesty and we need your help to make this happen.

At http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/paytaxnow/ can be found an online petition to Prime Minister Gordon Brown. If you are a British Citizen you can sign it.

The benefits that accrue to the Exchequer from a comprehensive General Tax Amnesty are many and apart from the fiscal, the contribution to society in terms of compliance to the law is important and should be encouraged.

Many Tax Experts, Accountants, Lawyers, Small businesses owners regard the current tax system as unfair and want it simplified. In fact many politicians from all parties feel the same way.

A survey carried out by the Forum of Private Business (FPB) almost half of respondents to the FPB’s Tax and Budget Member Panel survey listed fairness as the main priority for any tax system.

The petition on Number 10 Downing Street’s website is.

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to Implement a General Tax Amnesty.

Either permanent or for a limited period, which allows taxpayers of their own accord, address the tax collecting agency and disclose inaccurate or incomplete information from past tax years, or disclose material they did not report during previous dealings with the agency, without financial penalty or prosecution.

Grant Thornton published in September 2009 a Tax Manifesto, a proposal for reforming the tax system. In the core findings, the tax system needs to become more transparent but also measures are needed to bring people back into the tax fold and keep them there.

The recommendation is that the UK implements a vigorous General Tax Amnesty to bring those in the hidden economy back into the tax system without fear of imprisonment or penalty.

On the Treasury’s figures, the budget deficit will reach £178 billion in the current financial year.

In Grant Thornton’s Tax Manifesto, a proposal for reforming the tax system. The byline to the publication was, ‘Let’s rewrite the rule book’.

In the core findings they make a recommendation in order to rebuild trust among the electorate the tax system needs to become more transparent but also measures are needed to bring people back into the tax fold and keep them there.

The recommendation is that the UK implements a vigorous general tax amnesty similar to that introduced in Ireland in 1993 to bring those in the hidden economy back into the tax system without fear of imprisonment.

The main reasons why Governments enact general tax amnesties are varied but have in the main the following in common which is an immediate need to raise revenue e.g, during an economic downturn.

On one aspect of the fiscal crisis most can agree is that in the words of Lord Mandelson “We face quite exceptional circumstances”.

There are special factors: the global economy has suffered the biggest financial shock since the 1930s.

The University of Manchester, Manchester Business School was commissioned to write a report for the Small Business Service. Headed, ‘Taxation and Small Business, A review of the Literature’; authored by Francis Chittenden and Brian Sloan in November 2006.

The chapter headed, ‘Tax Evasion’ p50 of the Report has many insightful and useful examples of how compliance is facilitated by the use of education and not by threats of prosecution or draconian penalties for non-compliance.

Critics of tax amnesties are prone to complain that in the long run a tax amnesty is likely to lead to a decrease of tax compliance as a result honest taxpayers perceiving the amnesty to be favourable treatment of evaders, resulting in the decline of honest taxpayers. It may also be believed that the amnesty will not be a once only chance to repay undeclared taxes, again leading to lower compliance, as taxpayers believe there will be future opportunities to ‘come clean’.

The Report stated that there are supporters for tax amnesties however, and these advocates suggest that long term compliance can be increased by a one time amnesty with increased expenditure on enforcement and greater penalties in the future.

With the question of tax amnesties the foremost considerations are likely to be political in nature. Punishment for punishments sake does not serve the public interest and has no redemptive dimension. The question ultimately is does the Government have the will to implement a general and all embracing tax amnesty?

Voluntary compliance to the law and an active participation in making a contribution to society is the best way. No tax authority can police every single member of society for compliance, and nor should it.

Under the present extraordinary financial burdens that the Exchequer is dealing with a General Tax Amnesty is a well tried and highly effective method of raising much needed revenue and by deploying existing resources to a better effect, in terms of costs to the Department makes potentially significant savings.

The implementation of such a general tax amnesty could be made quickly from the actual decision to adopt this policy.

There has never been a more needful or timely set of circumstances to garner bipartisan political support across all party lines for this to happen now.

From the website of the Labour Party; ‘For Labour, democratic renewal is intended to forge a new relationship between government and citizen, so that Britain is better equipped to respond to the challenges that lie ahead. We want to create a society where power is held accountable and where individuals are able to maximise control over their own lives’.

From the Conservative Party website. ‘Nurturing Responsibility’. With opportunity comes responsibility. To make the most of the new world of freedom, we need to strengthen the structures which bring stability and a sense of belonging: home, neighbourhood and nation’.

From the Liberal Democrats website; “If you want to know how committed a government is to fairness then look at its tax system

"It is no coincidence that as HMRC staff have been cut, the amount of uncollected tax written off as doubtful has nearly doubled. There is over £130 billion which is uncollected, evaded and avoided which could go towards closing the public deficit.

Rather than cuts the government should be investing to recoup the lost billions in tax." That is a quote from Mark Serwotka who is the General Secretary of the Public and Commercial Services Union.

Gary Ashford, national head of tax risk and dispute resolution at RSM Bentley Jennison, said “Wholly domestic disclosures are not within the scope of the New Disclosure Opportunities, and those taxpayers will be subject to the standard HMRC penalty structure.
'This could create an unfair position for those with UK only problems’. Many senior tax specialists agree with him.

Everyone should be treated fairly under the tax laws, and that everyone is entitled to a fresh-start, if you agree with the opinions expressed in favour of a General Tax Amnesty for everyone in the UK than please go to http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/paytaxnow/
and sign the petition in support.
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