It claims that the HMRC's decision to appeal its Court of Appeal defeat in the Arctic Systems/Section 660 case showed the Government's determination to press on against what it sees as a tax dodge - the way couples use dividends to split much of a family firm's profit.
Almost two decades after Conservative Chancellor Nigel Lawson announced the end of joint taxation of husbands and wives, top accountants fear the Revenue is attacking independent his-and-hers taxation for small firms run by married couples.
John Whiting, tax partner at accountant PriceWaterhouseCoopers, told the Mail on Sunday: "This is about putting boundaries on independent taxation. It is the Revenue's attempt to poke its nose in and to take back some of the privileges of spouses being taxed separately."
Mike Warburton, tax partner at accountant Grant Thornton, said the decision to appeal showed the Revenue was determined to target independent taxation for women in this type of family business.
Full article: War on small firms 'tax dodge' Mail on Sunday, January 2006.
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