DEALING WITH TAX AVOIDANCE

Early day motion 1204, tabled 17 May 2004 by Austin Mitchell (Labour). Signed by 55 members.

That this House urges the Government to investigate the activities of banks and major accountancy and law firms in devising, marketing, promoting, implementing and concealing aggressive tax avoidance schemes which have no commercial substance and whose sole purpose is to avoid UK taxes on income and profits, thus enabling their wealthy and corporate clients to avoid taxes and national insurance contributions by transfer pricing, artificial loans, inflated management charges, special purpose vehicles, joint ventures, fictitious assets, offshore schemes and secretive trusts, all designed to deprive the UK Treasury of billions of pounds of tax revenues which in turn forces the Government to curtail social investment and shift the tax burden onto ordinary individuals, as evidenced by the increase in the 1989-90 income tax total from ú48.8 billion to ú115.2 billion in 2003-04, while the corporation tax over the same period increased from ú21.5 billion to ú28.1 billion, making corporation tax barely 2.5 per cent. of the GDP in 2003.

Signatures by party: Labour 34, Liberal Democrat 12, Labour/Co-operative 4, DUP 2, Conservative 1, Plaid Cymru 1, UUP 1.