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Other side of the coin

17 January 2012 / John Watson
Issue: 4337 / Categories: Comment & Analysis , GAAR , Admin
JOHN WATSON suggests simpler tax legislation might dispense with the need for a general anti-avoidance rule

KEY POINTS

  • The Aaronson report concentrates on abuse rather than avoidance.
  • Are the suggested tests of avoidance too complicated?
  • Is the real problem that tax legislation is not fit for purpose?
  • Could the OTS make real progress to simplify tax legislation?
  • The Newfields case and HMRC’s discretion.

As a general rule the more elegant the prose in which a document is expressed the more carefully one should think about the author’s conclusions.

That rule alone indicates that one should read Graham Aaronson’s report on the general anti-avoidance rule (GAAR) study with special care.

The language is immaculate and the logic is seductive. The only safe route is to get into a hot bath after reading it to think through Aaronson’s conclusions.

So as the water turns cold and...

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