Baroness Kramer
Main Page: Baroness Kramer (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Lord Ashton of Hyde
I do not think that it is true to say that the tax authorities are hiding behind the doctrine. The doctrine of confidentiality that the noble Lord mentioned was passed by a Labour Government under the 2005 Act. As for Google, which is not the subject of this Question, the noble Lord should know, if he does not know already, that the tax that Google paid was based on taxable profits, not on turnover.
Baroness Kramer (LD)
My Lords, I find transparency very attractive, but does the Minister agree that a company’s tax should not be determined by the attitude of its PR department or even by its charitable ethos and that HMRC needs to put in place tough standards? Will the Government review the structure of business taxes so that global businesses cannot use tax manipulation as a way to outcompete domestic businesses and small businesses as they do today?
Lord Ashton of Hyde
My Lords, the Budget is on Wednesday. I am not going to talk about tax policy.