Why new Tax Professionals Forum is good for business

Monday, July 26, 2010 | Posted by: Fiona Cullinan
Categories: Tax | Tags: Francesca Lagerberg, tax policy, consultation, Tax Manifesto, tax reform, David Gauke, Forum for Tax Professionals, UK, business

It’s great to see that Francesca Lagerberg has been appointed to the coalition Government’s newly launched Forum for Tax Professionals – not just because she’s our own Head of Tax, but because, ahead of the election, we were lobbying for just such a committee to give tax experts and businesses a voice on UK tax policy.

Back in January, Richard Jameson posted on Grant Thornton’s Tax Manifesto, saying:

“Why not create a committee to inform tax policy, a committee that can draw on experts to work with Parliament to formulate tax policy?”

He added that through this vehicle, the Government could gather earlier-stage input from businesses and tax experts; at the same time, the committee could provide practical information on the best ways to achieve particular results and on how any change would work in practice.

So it’s particularly good to see these ideas come to fruition in the new tax reform body, announced at the Emergency Budget in June. The Forum for Tax Professionals aims to reform the framework for developing tax policy and making tax law. The idea is that it will provide a platform for the Government to listen to the needs of business through greater consultation.

It seems the Government may have listened already in setting up the body.

Francesca Lagerberg said of her appointment:

“I am delighted and honoured to have been asked to be involved in this very important initiative. For too long, businesses in the UK have suffered from knee-jerk reactions made on tax policy and I would hope that this forum will allow for the voice of business to be heard by policy makers so as to improve UK competitiveness.”

Membership of the panel will initially be for two years, and the forum will meet bi-annually. The panel will be chaired by the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, David Gauke MP. Here’s the full list of panel members.

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