FTSE 100 Firms Attempt To Lead UK’s Tax Avoidance Debate

by Robert Lee, Tax-News.com, London

08 August 2005

Accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers is reportedly consulting with finance directors from FTSE100 companies in order to counter criticism about the amount of tax paid by large corporations and establish a more informed debate on the subject of corporate tax avoidance.

According to an article by Accountancy Age, PwC is consulting with the so-called Hundred Group of finance directors over new ways in which the full tax burden on the UK's largest firms can be better disclosed.

The move comes in response to the UK Treasury Department's intensified efforts to thwart corporate tax avoidance with a raft of tough new disclosure and anti-avoidance legislation, and is an attempt to counter criticism from lobby groups that large corporations are not making a fair contribution to the overall tax burden.

"The aim of this paper is to stimulate an informed debate regarding the tax contribution made by companies. Our proposition is that this contribution should be looked at from the point of view of all the taxes to which a company is subject and not just corporate tax on its profits," the firm stated, according to the report.

Recommended