My Lords, I am sure the Minister is pleased that we are making encouraging progress.
In moving that Clause 3 should not stand part of the Bill, I will reflect the fact that we are, of course, as committed as the Government to tackling tax avoidance and that we strongly believe that everyone must pay their fair share. As the Minister will recognise, tax avoidance is now a major issue as regards the operation of our economy, and there is not the slightest doubt that the public want things done. This is not the Bill in which to tackle the bigger of the issues—as regards multinationals and the problem of where they locate their profits as opposed to where they locate their sales and receipts—but the Bill is nevertheless a significant means of tackling tax avoidance, and we support that.
We are grateful in particular for the extension of measures to tackle high-risk promoters of NICs avoidance schemes, but we want some reassurance from the Minister that HMRC will be sufficiently resourced in order to implement both the measures and their safeguard. As the Bill has been considered, there has been constant reference on the government side to the amount of work that needs to be done—there is a great deal for Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs to take on board. In a period when the major government priority seems to be to reduce the number of people who serve our society as national or local civil servants, he will forgive me if my party is anxious about how the Bill will be implemented as regards the manpower necessary to deal with these issues of tax avoidance.
We ask the Government to keep the measures on accelerated payments and follower notices under review, in addition to the new targeted anti-avoidance rule, as part of the review of all tax avoidance measures. It is quite clear that there are aspects of the collection of NICs—or the failure to collect NICs—which relate to quite a substantial business advising on how to avoid tax. We are pleased that the Government have recognised this as a significant problem, and the Bill represents their determination to act.
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Legislation is one thing; implementation is another. It is the latter that I want reassurance from the Minister on. Will there be a report back to Parliament on the impact of these measures on the flow of tax avoidance through tax avoidance schemes once the legislation is implemented? We would certainly appreciate a Statement to both Houses updating us on progress within a period of time after the legislation becomes operative. Will the Minister tell us when HMRC is expected to produce the governance for the key decisions on which cases can be designated as followers? That is going to be so important to those who are involved in this field. If the legislation is going to be at its most effective, it is quite clear that, where a case is won by HMRC, all are well aware of the implications of that and the fact that HMRC will pursue any who follow the behaviour that has been subject to correction in the courts. What disclosure of tax avoidance schemes will be within scope? We think that Parliament has the right to know this.
The Minister will recognise that the wider public want the examination of tax avoidance schemes carried through with the maximum degree of rigour. I hope he is able to give responses that satisfy us on this very important point.