On 12 June 2012 the Government launched a formal consultation on
a new general anti-abuse rule (GAAR) to tackle 'artificial and
abusive tax avoidance schemes'.This followed the announcement
at Budget 2012 that such a rule will be introduced in 2013.The
proposed GAAR illustrates the ever-closing gap between tax evasion
and what the Government regards as unacceptable tax avoidance.
The consultation proposes the establishment of an advisory panel
(as recommended in the November 2011 report by Graham Aaronson QC),
members of which will come from both HMRC and business, to give
opinions on cases where HMRC believes the GAAR should apply.
The advisory panel is intended to help identify the boundaries
of the GAAR application; its opinions, however, will not be
binding. Many are unhappy with the panel's lack of authority
over HMRC, believing that the panel will simply act as additional
administration. The consultation document does, however, state that
it is the courts'
