Taxpayers' charter 'needs to be founded in legislation'

News Article - 12 September 2008
Category:

The proposed taxpayers' charter must be founded in legislation, according to the Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT).

While the CIOT said in its submission to Revenue and Customs' consultation that this was a necessary step to ensure the charter has a proper basis, it also said it strongly supports the idea, seeing it as "necessary and important".

It believes the charter can aid in reducing complexity for people when they try to understand how the UK taxation system is run, by making clear individuals' rights and responsibilities.

"With the extensive modernisation and extension of HMRC’s powers, taxpayers need a clear, accessible expression of their rights as a key part of the balancing safeguards," said the CIOT president, Nick Goulding.

"And for the charter to work, it needs to be founded – to have its vires – in legislation."

The CIOT commissioned a research paper on how a charter might be developed and expressed in 2007.

HMRC announced in January that it would begin working on the development of a charter with interested parties.

Article keywords:

---

More industry news

• Think tank warns UK may have already slipped back into recession
• Growing demand for HR staff in technology and international sectors
• Boosting business growth a ‘priority’ to avoid Eurozone slowdown
• HMRC launches alternative disputes pilot scheme this week
• December employment statistics disregard gloomy recruitment predictions
• Eurozone manufacturing PMI shows modest improvement
• UK scores highly for economic governance by ratings agency
• Government launches two-year project focusing on manufacturing sector
• Burden of regulation on UK businesses ‘too high’

Back to news home page »