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Budget 2012: Osborne accused of being soft on big business tax dodges Budget 2012: Osborne accused of being soft on big business tax dodges
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Anti-poverty campaigners have accused George Osborne of being soft on tax dodges by big business and ridiculed a promised crackdown on tax avoidance. Anti-poverty campaigners have accused George Osborne of being soft on tax dodges by big business and ridiculed a promised crackdown on tax avoidance. UK Uncut, which has campaigned against Vodafone and the Topshop owner,, Sir Philip Green,, for exporting profits abroad, warned that businesses would shrug off new measures intended to tackle avoidance.
UK Uncut, which has organised protests against Vodafone and the Topshop owner, Sir Philip Green, for exporting profits abroad, warned that businesses would shrug off new measures intended to tackle avoidance. The chancellor said he would implement a general anti-abuse rule from April 2013 to tackle abuses by business seeking to divert profits to low-tax havens or devise schemes to dodge taxes. He said the Treasury would spend the next year consulting interested parties before deciding on the fine detail.
The chancellor said he would implement a general anti-abuse rule from April 2013 to tackle abuses by business seeking to divert profits to low-tax havens or devise schemes to dodge taxes.
He said the Treasury would spend the next year consulting interested parties before deciding on the fine detail.
But UK Uncut accused Osborne of "PR fluff" that disguised a series of measures that would "make tax avoidance easier for multinational companies and banks, such as Vodafone and Barclays, which the Treasury has admitted will lose £1bn each year from the public purse".But UK Uncut accused Osborne of "PR fluff" that disguised a series of measures that would "make tax avoidance easier for multinational companies and banks, such as Vodafone and Barclays, which the Treasury has admitted will lose £1bn each year from the public purse".
Changes to the rules on tax paid by UK companies will allow them to cut the amount they pay on profits made by their foreign subsidiares. The aim is to allow firms to pay local taxes without a surcharge by the Treasury to bring the corporation tax rate up to UK levels. Changes to the rules on tax paid by UK companies will allow them to cut the amount they pay on profits made by their foreign subsidiaries. The aim is to allow firms to pay local taxes without a surcharge by the Treasury to bring the corporation tax rate up to UK levels.
Christina Samson, a supporter of UK Uncut, said: "This budget actively encourages big businesses and banks to avoid tax by making it easier for them to stash profits in tax havens, like Switzerland, which will cost the UK at least £1bn every year."Christina Samson, a supporter of UK Uncut, said: "This budget actively encourages big businesses and banks to avoid tax by making it easier for them to stash profits in tax havens, like Switzerland, which will cost the UK at least £1bn every year."
Bill Dodwell, a tax spokesman for the accountants Deloitte, said he was concerned that the general anti-abuse rule could be widely drawn to include tax avoidance schemes that masquerade as commercial transactions. Bill Dodwell, a tax spokesman for the accountants Deloitte, said he was concerned that the general anti-abuse rule could be widely drawn to include tax avoidance schemes that masquerade as commercial transactions. He said an anti-abuse rule that could be used to tackle the recent case of Barclays, which used a "contrived arrangement" offsetting debts against taxable profits, would be a mistake.
He said an anti-abuse rule that could be used to tackle the recent case of Barclays, which used a "contrived arrangement" offsetting debts against taxable profits, would be a mistake.
"A general rule should be tightly drawn and instances like the Barclays case still dealt with through more specific anti-avoidance measures," he said."A general rule should be tightly drawn and instances like the Barclays case still dealt with through more specific anti-avoidance measures," he said.