Reform or start again?

KEY POINTS

• Clear corporation tax rules that can be seen to work.
• G8 measures on transparency are a good start.
• Reform is preferable to a new regime.
• Tax advisers must help educate the public.

International tax has been a hot topic in recent months culminating in a discussion at the G8 summit in June. There has been much hand-wringing and debate but other than a few promises for greater transparency it is not evident that much has been achieved or even for that matter exactly what governments want to achieve in the first place.

As has been highlighted this week one country’s tax incentive is another country’s tax avoidance: Germany’s finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble said the UK’s patent box resulted in unfair competition for foreign investment and called for a...