§ Mrs. Currieasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the response to his invitation to interested parties to offer comments on volumes 1 and 2 of the report of the Committee on Enforcement Powers of the Revenue Department (Cmnd. 8822).
§ Mr. MooreComments were received from a broad cross-section of interested parties including bodies representing the interests of industry and commerce, the professions and individuals including firms and companies. In all there were 34 replies of which some two thirds were from representative bodies.
The public response shows a broad degree of agreement on the need to change the present rules for compliance and enforcement of the income, corporation, capital gains and value added taxes and that such a change should take the form of a balanced package of measures.
316WAt the same time, some reservations expressed on individual recommendations suggest that further study and discussions of certain points would be helpful before decisions are taken on them. I have authorised the Department to discuss these with the interested parties as necessary. Subject where appropriate to the outcome of these discussions, I hope it will be possible in due course to publish one or more sets of draft clauses reflecting the Government's conclusions on the VAT and the direct tax proposals.