Should Scotland seek a lower Corporation Tax rate?

[Scottish Business Owner]

This story has been in the papers alot over the past few weeks and i've linked to an article below from AccountingWeb which gives the ICAS view of things.

http://www.accountingweb.co.uk/article/icas-wary-lower-scottish-ct-rate/517753

I have to say that I remain to be convinced that this is a good idea much for the same reasons that has been mentioned in the article above.

I wonder what other people's view are. Do you think it's a good idea? Why not leave your comments below and also cast your vote in our poll

 

[johnmessingham]

The answer is "No" because amongst the various arguments for and against the idea one seems to have been forgotten. HMRC would not be able to deal with the extra work as it is struggling to cope with it's workload already.

 

[Gouldie0]

John, I have to disagree. Why should Scotland not take control of corporation tax rates just because HMRC may not be able to cope? Surely that's HMRC's problem and they'll be expected to deal with it.

Whilst I won't pretend to know all of the for's and against's, I think this could be a fantastic opportunity for the Scottish government. Surely this could be used to attract companies to base there businesses in Scotland and then potentially create opportunities of employment?

Just a thought.....

 

[johnmessingham]

There is some more background information here http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/919/0120242.pdf.

 

[Mike Lewis]

Why should Scotland not take control of corporation tax rates just because HMRC may not be able to cope? Surely that's HMRC's problem and they'll be expected to deal with it.

I was going to make the same point, Gouldie, but you put it much better than I could.

Also, John, you say that HRMC is already struggling with its workload. That's true, but it applies entirely to PAYE and NIC. Corporation tax is vastly simpler (at least, from HMRC's point of view). It's now almost entirely based on self-assessment, is only evaluated once per year per company, and is staggered throughout the year. In any case, we're not talking about a change to the system - only to the rate. HMRC already handle different rates according to the nature of the company.

Having said that, it doesn't mean I'm in favour of the change. There are many factors - some good, some bad. I just don't think the convenience of HRMC should be one of them.

Mike

 

[johnmessingham]

I agree with you both in that changes should not be made or avoided at the convenience of HMRC. But whether or not the organisation can cope with the change needs to be looked at just as much as the pro's and con's of the change itself.

 

[DickW]

Scottish businesses - particularly those in manufacturing and/or doing high tech stuff need every bit of help they can get so I'm strongly in favour of Scotland being able to control and collect it's own corporation tax.