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Margaret Hodge -- Saint or Satan?

18th Jun 2014
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Margaret Hodge has just been voted Tax Personality of the Year. Perhaps it is time for all of us to re-evaluate this controversial character.

It is very hard to deny her the pleasure of this award on the basis that Margaret Hodge is the only personality involved with the world of tax that the general public could name. Gone are the days when Dave Hartnett gave HMRC media profile and created dramas which ensured that our taxing authority was consistently in the public eye.

It is sometimes easy to forget that Mrs Hodge has a far wider brief than attacking tax evaders (as she perceives them) in her role as chair of the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee.

Not only does the committee consider failures by HMRC to carry out its duties properly but it is expected to spread its wings much more widely so that this morning, the lady was prognosticating or, if you prefer, pontificating, on the illegality of the government's attempt to reinvigorate an already lively housing market through mortgage support, the Help to Buy scheme.

The strange thing is that Mrs Hodge creates quite such diverse reactions. In the accounting community, one would have thought that we would be applauding one of our own. This lady's mentality is entirely that of the accountant/auditor in that her sole aim in life appears to be the monitoring of costs and attempt to rein them in.

As such, she is the perfect non-executive director and one imagines that when she eventually retires from her current role, presumably immediately becoming Dame Margaret Hodge, there will be enough job offers to sink the ship.

An interesting angle is the cult of personality. She is hardly the first person to chair the Public Accounts Committee but I would wager a tidy sum that very few readers of this column can name any previous incumbent, if you ignore Harold Wilson who rose to fame in a rather different role.

In fact, prior to her accession it is unlikely that most members of the public were even unaware that there was a committee fighting on their behalf to prevent government excesses.

It is also interesting to wonder the extent to which Mrs Hodge is rowing her own boat, which she appears to be to imply and the world certainly believes. As a general principle, if you head a 14-strong committee of politicians all that you actually do is convey the views of that committee to those that are interested in its activities.

Therefore, when people attack Margaret Hodge or praise her perhaps what they are really doing is commenting on the collective views of the Committee rather than the personal opinions of its chair.

Those that spit bile at this consummate politician do so at least ostensibly on the basis that some of the views that she conveys (we should not forget on behalf and for committee) are sometimes not founded on the strongest interpretation of law.

Realistically, many of those who spend our whole lives working in the tax profession do not understand every subtle nuance of their specialisms and surely it is civil servants who should brief their committee members and are at fault if legal interpretations are sometimes a little shaky.

However, on the basis that this committee sits to protect the public purse and, by extension, you and me from doling out money to those that do not deserve it, it is hard to suggest that its heart is not in the right place.

When it attacks tax abuse, we should all be cheering, since it is the abusers that are almost always directly responsible for withdrawal of perfectly sensible reliefs and planning opportunities. Similarly, they take money out of the economy that could be used for helpful purposes such as ensuring that the NHS runs properly and children receive an adequate education and might even get fed at lunchtime.

Allowing for all of this, it is a fair to suggest that if a vote were taken across the AccountingWEB community today more members would vilify Margaret Hodge then face. However, few would dispute the fact that she is the undisputed Tax Personality of the Year.

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Replies (7)

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By ShirleyM
19th Jun 2014 10:18

I think she is doing a good job of informing the public

I know she gets a lot of stick over 'double standards' and tax avoidance, but if a clean record was to be a requisite of the job then where we would we find a politician to fill the position?

Better to have someone doing the job than nobody doing the job.

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By Chaztax
22nd Jun 2014 17:49

So when...

Philip

When did Margaret Hodge acknowledge the pivotal role that many tax professionals play in the Self Assessment system?

I'm thinking, for example, of those who work late nights and weekends before 31 January filing one legally compliant tax return after another....

As far as I can see, MH tries to tar the entire tax profession with the same brush, and therefore it's hardly surprising that she comes in for a fair bit of flak in return.

 

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Replying to andy.partridge:
Philip Fisher
By Philip Fisher
23rd Jun 2014 22:01

MH's Role

It might be worth observing that Mrs H and her committee are there to protect the taxpayer from a Government's failure to marshal its financial resources adequately. As such, she has no reason to praise accountants who quietly keep the system ticking over.

I feel sure that Mrs H appreciates all of our hard work and, if ever she is redeployed, will be effusive in her enthusiasm for the work of salt of the earth tax professionals, but perhaps not those who are at the cutting edge of the avoidance industry.

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Replying to Chris.Mann:
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By Chaztax
24th Jun 2014 20:30

Thanks


OK thanks for the reply Philip.

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By ShirleyM
22nd Jun 2014 19:59

Is she to blame?

Is she to blame for highlighting the role that many accountants play in creating and promoting dodgy tax avoidance schemes, and so making massive commissions and fees out of cheating the taxpayer? I think those accountants are the cause of our disrepute, especially when they were involved in creating the very legislation that they now exploit.

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Replying to penelope pitstop:
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By Chaztax
22nd Jun 2014 20:36

Yes

"I think those accountants are the cause of our disrepute".

I think that must be right.

It's a case of not tarring all accountants with the same brush.

 

 

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By ShirleyM
22nd Jun 2014 20:40

I don't think she was

She highlighted the fact that on the one hand the big four helped formulate the legislation, and then returned 'to the office' to exploit their in depth knowledge of the legislation. I don't think she implied that all accountants were 'at it' ... just the big four.

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