This week’s opinion

This was the opening of the key question in the McCarthy hearings: the words that followed were ‘a member of the Communist Party’. Readers of Fiona Fernie’s article in this week’s issue  could be forgiven for thinking that we have a new version of the question: ‘Are you now or have you ever been a promoter of tax avoidance schemes?’ I have no fundamental objection to the proposal to impose penalties on promoters who continue to market schemes in the face of the massive change in the legal framework and public perception of tax avoidance.

The consultation however makes no distinction between current activity and that from many years ago in different circumstances which may reach the courts only after the legislation has been enacted. The purpose of the new regime is to change behaviours and encourage compliance. Many firms that have now publicly adopted...