Carrier bag blues

Despite all the talk about a levy on free plastic bags we all know the real connection between tax and the humble supermarket carrier.

It's that heart-sinking moment when yet another client arrives at your office in early January announces 'I've brought my business records in' and dumps three supermarket bags full of unsorted receipts invoices and bank statements on your desk. Well not for much longer.

Two schedules to Finance Bill 2008 should put an end to the annual writing up of books while also providing a fertile new ground for investigations.

Record-keeping

Let's start with Schedule 37. Entitled 'Record-keeping' it makes a small but very important change to TMA 1970 s 12B. Subsection 3(a) of that section currently says records should be kept of all amounts received and expended and of all sales and purchases of goods.

That is a...