Let’s start with the independence debate.  I would normally refer to this as the “fiscal powers” debate but there seems little point as that ship appears to have sailed.  Some things are becoming clearer.  There is not going to be a second question.  The likelihood of serious additional fiscal powers being devolved to the Scottish Parliament if Scotland votes ‘No’ also now seems increasingly unlikely.

It is not difficult to imagine the appetite for even listening to arguments for additional fiscal powers at Westminster in that event.  That is where the Devo Plus campaign has got it wrong.  And I say this as one of the authors of the Reform Scotland Fiscal Powers papers on which their proposal is based.  Devo Plus are arguing for a ‘No’ vote and also that there should not be a second question.  Do they really think Westminster will seriously consider devolving further powers to the Scottish Parliament if Scotland votes ‘No’?  An article by Jeremy Purvis who leads the Devo Plus campaign can be found here.  On a personal note it is disappointing to see that Reform Scotland have now taken a stance on Scotland’s constitutional question by its support for Devo Plus.

The fact that only the Liberal Democrats are going to have a further devolution proposal by the time the referendum takes place reinforces this argument.

So if there is not to be a second question, what do those who have supported devo max previously do?  The impact and importance of Jim McColl’s announcement in favour of independence should not be under estimated.  A BBC news website report on this can be found here.

Now to taxing the wealthy.  Just now politicians seem to talk of little else.  Let’s ignore for now what actually constitutes wealth.

Let’s start with an article by George Kerevan on the Scotsman.  Kerevan argues against taxing the wealthy, believing that it is arbitrary, complicated to administer, and does not raise enough money relative to the trouble it takes to collect it.   His article can be found here.

Nick Clegg wants to ensure that the rich “pay their fair share”.  He has vowed to block further welfare cuts until a mansion tax is agreed with his Tory coalition partners. Vince Cable has also spoken out against tax havens and non-domiciles.  Then there is Danny Alexander.  He has promised tax investigations for all those who own assets worth more than £1 million.  The cynic in me says: I have heard a lot of this before and not just on tax reform.  What about the banks.  Has anything of substance actually been done?

Then there is the evolving love in between Ed Balls and Nick Clegg.  Ed Balls told the Independent newspaper that a future Labour UK Government could impose an annual levy on expensive properties, unlike Nick Clegg though, he favours a permanent rather than temporary wealth tax.  The article in the Independent can be found here.  This does seem more like mischief making than serious policy making given how long the last UK Labour Government were in power.

One reason for my cynicism is a claim made by the SNP this week.  The claim is that there are fewer, not more, tax inspectors.  I have blogged before on how HMRC’s budget has been reduced and of the large number of HMRC redundancies.  If we are serious about tackling tax evasion then you need a properly resourced tax collection agency.  Transparency would not go a miss either.  How about publishing tax returns?  The SNP press release on this can be found here.

So what can be done?  HMRC’s High Net Worth Unit has brought in £500 million in extra tax from the UK’s 5,000 wealthiest people since it launched three years ago. The amount collected is well over the original target of £100 million a year.  A press release from HMRC on this can be found here.  And of course this was achieved in a time where HMRC’s budget has been cut.

Finally on this issue, an excellent article by Iain MacWhirter in the Herald.  MacWhirter points to the relative insignificance of the cost of the so called “free services” as compared with the salaries and pensions of the higher-earning public sector workers.  The article in the Herald can be found here.

These services are of course not “free”.  They are paid for by taxation.  Taxation is simply a series of political choices.

The introduction of a 15% rate of stamp duty land tax on corporate buyers in this year’s UK Budget, it is claimed, has had a dramatic impact on the high-value London property market.  The article from the online STEP journal can be found here here.  I must admit to struggling to see why this is a bad thing.

About 60% of all taxpayers’ complaints against HMRC are upheld on appeal, according to figures from Pinsent Masons. Some 58,110 complaints were made last year, of which more than 33,000 were accepted either by an internal HMRC review or by the Adjudicator’s Office.  A report on this can be found here.

Barclays Bank is to cut back on its UK tax planning unit, after a dispute with the tax authorities over ‘aggressive’ schemes tarnished its public image.  A report on this can be found here.

Now to matters slightly further afield.

Firstly to America and the never ending saga of Mitt Romney’s tax affairs.  Romney has at last published his 2011 tax return.  It turns out Romney and his wife paid $1.936 million in taxes on gross income of $13.7 million.  That is a tax rate of 14.1%.  The article from the online STEP journal can be found here.  I suspect that this is not the end of this matter.

Francois Hollande has revealed details of his 75% top rate of income tax for France’s wealthiest citizens.  Newspaper reports suggest there are likely to be concessions for married couples, performers and sports stars.  Meanwhile the richest man in France, Bernard Arnault, has applied for Belgian nationality to escape the tax.  An article on this from the Guardian can be found here.  Again, I suspect that this is an issue that is going to run and run.

A Spanish newspaper has reported that the country is about to double capital gains tax on short term gains to 52%.  This gives a sense of the level of problems now faced by Spain.  An article on this can be found here.

Have a good weekend.

Let’s start with my favourite Chicago politician and the small matter of the next US Presidential election.

I was interested to read this week that President Obama is considering a form of “minimum taxation”.   The plan seems to be if you make more than $1 million a year you should not pay less than 30 per cent in taxes.  In addition if you earn more than $1 million a year you will not be allowed to claim any tax relief or deductions.  On corporate taxation no American company will be allowed to avoid paying its “fair” share of taxes by moving jobs and profits overseas.  Again multinational companies will be liable for a basic minimum tax.  I wonder if we will see our politicians thinking along similar lines in the near future.  I suspect that we will.

Now to the independence and fiscal powers debate.  Two major developments this week. Firstly sources close to the Prime Minister are reported to have said: “that a substantial increase in financial powers for Holyrood is not an option if Scotland wants to remain within the United Kingdom.”  If the UK Conservative party sticks with this line in the sand then how will those who support “devo max” or “devo plus” vote in 2014?  Will the Liberal Democrats and the main UK opposition party continue to support this policy?

Only time will tell as far as these questions are concerned.  One thing is though certain and that is the UK Government will face opposition on this point.  This week groups from the voluntary sector, churches, trade unions and the business community have formed a coalition to explore the possibility of a “middle-ground” option which is short of independence.  This group is termed “civic Scotland” and has the support of two think tanks Reform Scotland and the Centre for Public Policy.  For completeness sake I should mention that I am a former trustee of Reform Scotland and that I was one of the authors of Reform Scotland’s fiscal power papers.  I am though not involved with this group.

I was surprised that more was not made of the new statistics produced by HMRC this week.  UK tax receipts up to January 2012 show that total tax revenues in the 2010-11 fiscal year very nearly recovered to their pre-recession 2007-08 level and are set to be substantially higher in the current 2011-12 tax year.

Now to something we in Scotland are going to have to consider as tax powers are devolved to the Scottish Parliament.  It is easy to suggest a new tax.  Recent examples include a “bed tax” for Edinburgh.  Another possible new tax is the so called “bag tax”.  It was reported this week that Northern Ireland is to introduce such a tax from April.  Wales introduced a similar tax last year and the Republic of Ireland has had such a tax since 2002.  The Scottish Government is presently consulting on this issue.

As I said it is easy to suggest a new tax.  It is harder to explain what that tax is meant to achieve.  That should always be the starting point.  Are we looking to increase tax revenue or change behaviour or possibly a bit of both?  When environmental taxes such as aggregates levy and landfill tax were introduced the politicians struggled to answer this question.

I would also expect an explanation as to how the tax will be collected, the cost of collection and who carries that cost.  Any claim as to potential revenue also needs to be looked at closely and also put into context.  Most taxation revenue comes from just a handful of taxes.  Many of the UK’s minor taxes produce a relatively small amount of revenue.

Any new tax should also have a review date.  This ensures that any claims as to revenue or the cost of administration can be checked within a relatively short period of time.

Now to an update in the Scotsman on Edinburgh airport’s so called “kiss and fly” tax.  A total of 15p of every £1 generated by the charge for dropping off passengers beside the airport terminal is being channelled into its environmental fund.  The article can be found here.

Now to business rates and an excellent piece in the Scotsman newspaper.  The Scotsman reports that an unprecedented number of firms in Edinburgh have demanded reduced business rates as they struggle with a weak global economy and local difficulties such as tram works.  The article can be found here.

Now to Europe.  I was not surprised that President Sarkozy has decided to introduce a French financial transaction tax in August.  Will he still be in power then is of course another question.  The plan is to unilaterally impose a 0.1% tax on financial transactions.  The UK Prime Minister’s reaction was as expected.  Of greater interest is whether other European countries follow Sarkozy’s lead.

I have been following the Harry Redknapp trial with interest.  It is alleged that he received undeclared payments via a Monaco bank account from his former boss at Portsmouth Football Club.  Reports such as this one from the BBC News website, found here, make fascinating reading.

It seems that the Chief Executive of the Student Loan Company has his salary of £182,000 salary paid via a company and without tax being deducted.  The article claims that both HMRC and HM Treasury were aware of this arrangement which allows Ed Lester to pay corporation tax of 21% rather than up to 50% income tax on his earnings.  You have to wonder if the people who approved this arrangement have any sense of what is happening in the real world just now.  This is an excellent piece of journalism from the Guardian and the article can be found here.

Finally to more serious matters.  Good luck to new Scottish captain Ross Ford this weekend.  No pressure!

Have a good weekend.