On the road

KEY POINTS

• The magazine's fundamentals remain the same.
• As with the motor car, the subject of taxation has also seen major developments in recent decades.
• Maintaining our role in speaking up for the smaller accountancy and tax practitioners.
• Our policy will remain as it was in 1927: to “supply every need arising from the practical and theoretical sides of the subject of taxation”.

One of the last things Mike Truman did as he left the office for the final time as editor was to hand me a set of keys. He said they were to the “company Rolls-Royce”.

For a minute, I was very happy, then practicalities took over and I started to wonder what the benefit-in-kind charge might be, although how could such an offer be turned down?

Whatever the P11D implications might amount to, and however satisfying the “clunk” of the doors on my VW Golf might sound, the thought of driving that around had to be too tempting an offer to refuse. On closer inspection, of course, it turned out that the keys were to the editor’s desk and what he was actually referring to Taxation.

As Mike mentioned in his valedictory article last week, Malcolm Gunn described the magazine in that way when he handed over the reins (or perhaps that should be steering wheel) 10 years ago. I’m not quite sure where Malcolm got the motor car analogy from, but it seems eminently suitable and I am greatly honoured to have been entrusted with its safe keeping.

Without wishing to sound too much like a well-known and perhaps slightly pretentious watch advertisement, I fully appreciate that this vehicle isn’t mine. I am simply entrusted with its safekeeping for a while, holding it in trust for future generations.

Car tax

Thinking about it, and looking at a magazine that was first published in 1927, about the time that the Rolls-Royce Phantom was introduced, I suppose it’s fair to say that the time line of Taxation and its eponymous subject has similarities with that of the automobile.

A motorist from the 1920s transported to 2015 would still recognise a car for what it is. While the exterior design may have changed substantially, the basic form is still there: a body, four wheels, a steering wheel, an engine (usually at the front) under the bonnet, side doors for access, windscreen and wipers.

But closer inspection would reveal some more fundamental changes: more powerful and efficient engines, synchromesh gears, catalytic converters, front-wheel drive, anti-locking brakes, seatbelts. Perhaps some minor changes would be noticed: cup holders, music systems, sat navs.

The mechanically minded would probably also be confused if they looked under the bonnet. The fundamentals of the four-stroke engine remain the same, but many of the components will be unfamiliar.

Tax is the same. If we look at our first edition, the basic components are there, learned articles, news, comment, tax case reports and even a readers’ forum with new queries.

How that last one happened in the launch issue is as confusing to me as I suspect that hybrid technology would be to our motorist from the past. However, as with engine technology and motoring, much has changed in taxation since.

No longer can we all enjoy quite the same carefree, wind-in-the-hair approach to either activity. There is much regulation, speed limiters, black boxes and anti-avoidance legislation.

No longer can the motorist or tax practitioner go where they please – no-through roads, one-way streets, no-parking signs have their equivalents in exceptions, tax reliefs that operate in certain situations but not others, and the general anti-abuse rule, perhaps.

When we are in the car we have to comply with other regulations, such as wearing a seatbelt, being sober and not talking on a mobile phone. The requirements of professional indemnity insurance, compliance with anti-money laundering regulations and professional standards may be the tax equivalent.

The pace of change

Should we complain? Perhaps not. As with motoring, the pace of business and financial life is now much faster, computers are an integral part of both the modern car and the tax practice, and the activity that is taking place under the bonnet is also much more complex.

We have to embrace change where needed although, like the motoring organisations that were formed some years before our launch, we should be a voice of moderation and campaign where this is needed.

Speaking up for the individual practitioners who may feel that they are occasionally being forced off the road is one function. Potholes in the tax legislation need to be filled and the strict application of the laws may need moderation to take account of honest mistakes.

On the other side, the authorities need to recognise that, if all the drivers have been prevented from driving, having the road in the first place serves little point.

It is at this point that I can hear the words of a little Mike Truman in my head, telling me that the motoring analogy has reached the end of the road (sorry).

Tinkering around

New editors will always be tempted to tinker around with Taxation and we now have the opportunity to do this both in print and online.

My expectation is that any changes will be evolutionary rather than revolutionary and I suspect that red will remain prominent on the cover enabling professional tax practitioners to easily recognise each other when reading at the bus-stop or on the train.

Our policy will also remain as it has since that first issue: to “supply every need arising from the practical and theoretical sides of the subject of taxation”.

Our original editor appears to have had much foresight. “During the hearing of a recent case in the courts an eminent judge remarked that ‘equity and income tax are strangers’. It will be our constant aim to bring them together.”

Despite what we and our readers may think of Margaret Hodge and her methods, it does seem that some steps are being made in that direction.

However, does the increasing coverage of perceived inequities in the tax liabilities of individuals and corporations undermine the confidence of the man in the street that the tax system is operating in an equitable manner? Simply highlighting the fact that large corporations or wealthy individuals are paying apparently minimal amounts of UK tax may be counter-productive.

A clear explanation of the principles involved might lead to more focused pressure for change or a wider understanding of why the system works as it does.

Down the years

Looking again at that first edition, I am struck by the number of issues that still echo down the years. The first main article starts:

“Practitioners realise acutely the disability to which they are subject in that, as they are unable to obtain particulars of the many concessions made by the board of Inland Revenue, they cannot hope to be in a position to negotiate with inspectors of taxes on equal terms.”

Only recently, I was speaking to a tax practitioner on a similar subject: whether HMRC’s practice in an area had been published in full. As that first editorial said, “Our watchword will be ‘Service’” and we hope to continue to shine light into the shadows for the benefit of tax advisers and their clients.

But it is only thanks to our professional and diligent readership that we can provide a service that is of benefit to the whole profession and its taxpaying clientele. And in turn this must surely be of benefit to HMRC.

The government is keen that we are all seen to be paying our fair share – even going to the extent of showing us to which departments our individual contributions are going. An integral part of this process is that advisers and taxpayers fully understand the rules and practices by which those individual liabilities are calculated and collected.

Accordingly, I would like to reiterate our statement from 1927 that “readers are invited to give full particulars of all concessions and practices that may come to their knowledge.”

Into the future

I am very honoured to have been entrusted with Taxation.

Working alongside our new editor-in-chief, Andrew Hubbard, the Taxation team and I will continue to bring topical tax news, commentary and articles written by tax professionals for tax professionals.

Finally, I am reminded that without a compass – or perhaps a satnav – the only way to know whether we are steering a proper course is to take the occasional look over our shoulder to check that our path is straight and true, rather than looking “like a dog’s hind leg”, as my seafaring father is fond of saying.

You can download a copy of the very first issue. I hope this will serve as a reminder of how far we have travelled and how far there is still to go.

Issue: 4492 / Categories: Comment & Analysis