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Support continues to grow for our Power Too Far campaign
Professional bodies and service providers continue to champion Taxation’s fight against allowing HMRC access to taxpayers’ bank accounts.
The Power Too Far campaign was launched last month in opposition to plans laid out in the consultation document Direct Recovery of Debts.
The drive received strong support immediately from the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and the ICAEW Tax Faculty, which were instrumental in bringing the issue to the attention of a larger audience in the tax sector, compelling many to sign the e-petition created by Taxation editor Mike Truman.
The Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) is among the latest organisations to back the call for further consultation on direct recovery of debts (DRD).
AAT director of professional development Adam Harper said, “Provided a further iteration of the consultation process acknowledges the concerns expressed by many working in the tax profession and seeks to address key concerns such as the clear need for independent oversight we believe that the debate can be refocused.
“While we have not lost any opportunity to ensure HMRC are aware of our concerns, we are not sufficiently persuaded they have taken them on board, which is why the AAT supports the Power Too Far campaign,” added Harper.
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS) has also called for a review of DRD safeguards, highlighting Taxation’s petition in a blog entry that insists, “Different debt collection procedures are needed for the obstinate, the vulnerable and the chaotic.”
Both the Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT) and the Association of Tax Technicians (ATT) set the DRD proposals in the context of wider changes.
The CIOT said, “We are very concerned about the clear direction of travel in recent tax law. When you put together direct recovery of debts, strict liability criminal offence for undeclared income from offshore assets and the combination of follower cases leading to accelerated payment notices, there is a clear trend. In each case there is less or no ability for the courts to intervene to place a check on the power of the state. It enables an arm of government to act in the way that is most administratively convenient for them. This inevitably moves power from citizen to state with no judicial intervention to shout ‘foul’.”
ATT president Natalie Miller remarked, “There seems to be a growing tendency in tax legislation towards a deliberately more abrasive tax system. The mischief that new legislation is intended to address may well be an appropriate target for specific action but there is real danger that fundamental principles are being ignored in the process.
“The end can never justify the means. If the state rides roughshod over the rights of any taxpayer, that poses a threat to all citizens. That is just as true if the taxpayer in question happens to be conducting their tax affairs in a way that everyone agrees needs to be stopped. Their rights are no different from mine,” said Miller.
The Chartered Institute for Payroll Professionals (CIPP) added its weight to the push against DRD by sharing its members concerns about the Revenue “having the power to carry out a carte blanche approach to those who do not meet their liabilities, or appear to not have met their liabilities”.
The CIPP went on to express its support for “Taxation and accountancy bodies in calling for a review into what more can be done to tackle those who avoid or evade paying their taxes, before rushing through these new powers.”
Many leading accountancy and law firms – including Pinsent Masons, Francis Clark and Baker Tilly – have reported news of Taxation’s drive, while two major providers of support services to accountancy practices, Mercia and SWAT, have alerted their members to the Power Too Far petition and the issues behind it. Ross Martin Tax Consultancy has given the campaign a thumbs-up, and several tax lecturers, including Keith M Gordon, highlight the matter in their seminars.
Taxation is very grateful for all support and hopes that even more people and organisations will echo the call for DRD to be re-thought.
