Income shifting shifted

Readers will by now have learnt that the Government has responded to the universal condemnation of its unfair and unworkable proposals to counter what has been termed 'income shifting'.

However while the battle might be won the war is definitely not over.

Both in the press notices and the Budget report itself the Government wedded itself firmly to the notion that individuals sharing income in a tax-efficient manner is fundamentally unfair.

Consequently the effect of the announcement is only to delay introducing new legislation until 6 April 2009 to allow a further period of consultation.

Reading between the lines it would appear that the focus of any new rules will be the same as previously proposed — so they will still be targeted at businesses.

What I still fail to understand is why if the sharing of income is so unfair it is...