Taxpayer Confidentiality

Debate between Countess of Mar and Lord Ashton of Hyde

Monday 14th March 2016 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ashton of Hyde]

My Lords, the Budget is on Wednesday. I am not going to talk about tax policy.

[The Countess of Mar (CB)]

My Lords, the noble Lord said in response to a previous question that confidentiality engenders trust. Is it not the case that the current furore has been caused by the fact that the public do not trust those companies?

[Lord Ashton of Hyde]

My Lords, the question is whether the public trust HMRC. It has a system of challenge. It is challenged by Parliament and the Public Accounts Committee, and the National Audit Office is entitled to look at all the records of HMRC, which it has done in the past.