Tories and tax

Tax avoidance has been a scourge upon the British economy for far longer than the life of this or even the previous government, but its significance has been brought into focus by the disastrous state of the public finances and the continuing squeeze on living standards.

The issue is particularly damaging for the Conservative Party elite, suspected by many voters of being just a little too cosy with big business – and perhaps a little too quick to turn a blind eye where tax avoidance is concerned.

They have hardly been helped by their own employees at the HRMC, where a series of revelations about suspiciously generous deals with large corporations – costing the public purse millions in lost revenue – have shaken confidence in senior civil servants.

The coalition’s new and co-ordinated attack on tax avoiders will therefore be welcomed by both party faithful and the wider public.

However, it is essential that the strong words of David Cameron and Nick Clegg are followed up with real action in the Budget on March 21.

For we have been here many times before.

Only last year, George Osborne unveiled what he claimed was an “historic” clampdown on tax havens, netting the UK an additional £5bn in revenue from secret bank accounts in Switzerland. The reality, however, was that this one-off deal did not go far enough.

If the Government is truly committed to ending tax avoidance, it must ensure there is no such half-measure this time round. The introduction of a general anti-abuse rule, if workable, would surely be a most welcome start.