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Monitoring tax dodgers
SIR - While the Public Accounts Committee's intentions over tax avoidance are good, a loose name-and-shame approach is counterproductive (report, February 19). Tax avoidance is not illegal: naming and shaming would penalise individuals and business reputations when they had not broken the law.
There is also an issue over where you draw the line; there isn't a clear cliff edge between what you could say is acceptable tax planning and what is unacceptable tax avoidance. Individual Savings Accounts, which are used by many hard-working people as a savings vehicle, are a legitimate tax avoidance measure, as are certain trusts set up by parents to pay for their children's education.
Perhaps when the Government looks in detail at the proposals, it will consider (with a view to radical simplification) a quicker and wider review of the system than the Office of Tax Simplification is currently resourced to implement.
Chas Roy-Chowdhury
Head of Taxation, Association of Chartered Certified Accountants
London WC2
SIR - David Cameron says there are "moral questions" regarding the control of aggressive tax avoidance in Britain (report, February 18). But moral compasses vary from person to person; where one may see an unacceptable cheating of the law, another may see a business opportunity.
Instead, a culture of strong business and professional ethics should be cultivated in Britain - with companies implementing, and sticking to, ethical principles.
Rebecca Doodson
Senior Conduct & Compliance Officer, Association of Accounting Technicians
London EC1
From...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/letters/9883680/David-Cameron-should-defy-European-directives-and-keep-our-coal-fired-power-stations-running.html