Whiting: Do we need small companies rate?

If you're wondering what's on John Whiting’s mind, some clues are available in an exclusive interview with the CIOT tax policy director, recorded with TAXtv shortly before he was appointed to take charge at the new Office of Tax Simplification.

Whiting answered questions from TAXtv's Giles Mooney that ranged across the UK's competitiveness as a tax jurisdiction and what business taxpayers wanted most: lower taxes or more certainty?

"Over the years I’ve been in practice, businesses obviously want to reduce their tax bill, but they want to know exactly what situation is. In business that’s such a big issue," said Whiting.

"Are we getting closer to that? Slowly and gradually. We haven't got there yet, but we've got it on the register. HMRC and HM Treasury both have got it and even politicians have realised it’s an important feature of international tax competitiveness that also applies to every taxpayer in the land."

But when Mooney asked Whiting whether he thought that large businesses got more help from the government than small businesses, he commented, "Of all the things I expected him to say, it wasn’t this..."

Whiting answered: "Do you need a small companies rate?"

"Should it all be 20% or 25% across the board? Do they need other incentives? This is part of an ongoing discussion. If you bring the two rates together in the context of the Annual Investment Allowance and put in balance, it helps small business quite a lot."

Whiting called this "one of my constant hobby horses. Where businesses have got to pay Corporation Tax once a year, tackling the weekly and monthly headaches of PAYE would pay a much bigger dividend on reducing the administrative burden," he argued.

"Many businesses will be happy paying a touch more Corporation Tax if the deal means less effort on PAYE and compliance. If it was much easier and the deal meant a soupcon more in Corporation Tax, most businesses would take it."

If you'd like to find out more about John Whiting's thoughts about tax reform, the full 15-minute interview is available in the June episode as part of the £99 annual TAXtv subscription package. Full details here.