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The existing corporation tax system is outdated and no longer works for all sizes of company, according to tax expert Richard Murphy.
He has proposed that CT be split in two, with the introduction of a new small business tax and a separate levy for large and multinational companies.
In his keynote speech at the Association of International Accountants' Founders' Lecture, Mr Murphy said he believes 'very strongly that companies must be taxed on the basis of a broad, clear and unambiguous tax base'.
He roundly rejected the Institute for Fiscal Studies' June report that suggested the that CT reformed or replaced by a higher VAT rate.
Richard reminded the audience that one of the roles of corporation tax is redistribution.
He also outlined a number of key changes affecting the tax that had taken place since its introduction in 1965: the number of companies has increased more than eightfold, groups now contain many more companies, vast numbers of companies are foreign-owned, globalisation has taken place, and accounting standards now play a central role.
As a result of these developments, he said he believes that fundamental reform is the only option.
'It's as if Ford were still selling the Cortina… when Ford has actually been through the Sierra and more versions of the Mondeo than I care to remember since then.'
Richard, who is an experienced tax writer, went on to highlight one of the main shortcomings with the current CT system.
He claimed his work has shown that large corporations now probably pay less than 22% on average, and small companies are heading towards paying at more than this on average.
In summary, he said: 'There is no future for corporation tax, at least, not as we know it', and he proposed splitting the system and introducing separate schemes for large and small companies.
The scheme for small companies would make tax simpler: the profits of the companies would be taxed as if they belong to the shareholders, and the businesses would become 'tax transparent'.
In contrast, Richard said large companies would still need to be in a corporation tax regime, although he envisaged a very different one based on unitary taxation and formula apportionment of international profits.
