Mark Prisk MP |
Mr Prisk outlined his plans to Shout99 following the Revenue's decision to seek leave to appeal to the House of Lords after it lost the Arctic Systems test case in the Court of Appeal recently.
Mr Prisk also joined a growing chorus that this approach is an attack on the independent taxation of women.
Mark Prisk. who ran his own business consultancy for ten years, said: "The decision by HM Revenue & Customs to pursue the Arctic Systems case to the House of Lords means that thousands of family businesses now have no idea what their tax liability is.
"This will undermine their ability to plan their business or invest for the future, which is the last thing the UK economy needs. It shows that the Chancellor's talk about enterprise, is just that. Talk.
"Just as bad, HM Revenue & Customs' approach in this case, suggests they wish to restrict the important principle of the independent taxation of married women. Their legal argument rests, in part, on being able to treat a wife's earnings as if its just part of her husband's income. If this were to be accepted by the House of Lords it would have serious implications for thousands of working women and would undermine this important principle of our tax system."
Mr Prisk is meeting pressure groups supporting Arctic Systems, including the Professional Contractors Group (PCG) and the Federation of Small Business (FSB).
He told Shout99 that he then intends to write to Sir David Vardy, Chairman of HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) to voice the concerns of the small business community and to ask him to explain his officers' actions.
Mr Prisk said: "I shall be seeking assurances about how family firms should complete their tax returns and ask him to explain the Revenue's intentions towards the continued independent taxation of married women. Third, I shall be consulting the leading tax experts in the field to establish the professional view about this case.
"If I am not satisfied with Sir David's reply I will then take this up with Treasury Ministers, including the Chancellor."
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He said: "This decision is the latest attack by the Treasury on independent family businesses. In 2002, the Chancellor tried to push small firms to incorporate. His policy backfired and he was then forced into an expensive u-turn. Friday's decision by the Revenue looks like the same kind of half-baked attempt to meddle in the tax affairs of small businesses and married couples.
"I really wish the Chancellor would stop meddling and leave family enterprises to get on and run their business."
Shout99 will be following Mark Prisk's political actions to support small businesses on Section 660. For more information about Section 660 and the Arctic Systems case, see Shout99's Section 660 resource.
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Susie Hughes © Shout99.com 2006
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