Mr Bean does tax law

Much though one may sympathise with HM Treasury’s drive to eliminate tax avoidance it is hard to read the draft advice pack Promoting Tax Compliance and Procurement without wondering if some agent of a hostile power might have slipped magic mushrooms into the Parliament Street soup. 

I am not bothered by whether the rules are fair or disproportionate (I am content to leave that question to others) nor by whether they are compliant with EU and OECD obligations (that will be a matter for the courts in due course).

It is just that they are well a bit silly in a Mr Bean sort of way and that is something that I find aesthetically displeasing in this context.

“OK ” as Raymond Chandler might have put it “what’s the deal?” Broadly it is this: As from 1 April [sic] those responsible for...