Impact of UK tax changes criticised by Lords committee

Date: 12th June 2008

Recent moves by the current government to change regulations governing taxation was badly handled, it has been claimed.

According to the findings of a report by a House of Lords committee, in addition to being badly handled, the decision to modify regulations governing capital gains tax and the treatment of non-domiciled employees could have negatively affected the competitiveness of the UK.

The House of Lords is the UK's second parliamentary chamber.

"We have heard harsh criticism from the private sector of the way in which the residence and non-dom initiative was handled," said Lord Vallance, chairman of the committee, in a report by the Guardian.

"It was claimed that the shocks to the tax system may undermine the stability of the tax regime and UK competitiveness."

Within the report, it has been recommended that the government offer reassurance to non-domiciled individuals to confirm that the suggested changes were not designed to deter their presence within the UK.