Lords Economic Affairs Committee continue inquiry into Corporate Taxation with evidence from BP and GSK

The Committee will then hear from witnesses from the ICAEW, ICAS, ACCA and the CBI.

With the business representatives the Committee will ask how easy it is for multinational companies to avoid paying tax on profit generated in the UK, what policies BP, GSK and Reed Elsevier have to minimise tax and what the companies see as an acceptable effective rate of corporation tax. They will also ask the witnesses whether foreign companies are able to gain a competitive advantage over domestic firms when operating in the UK due to the corporate tax regime.

With the accountancy associations the Committee will ask for the witnesses views on the Chancellor’s proposal that tax avoiders should be named and shamed, whether the distinction in the tax code between debt and equity is justified and the recent Public Accounts Committee criticism of the close relationship between Government and professional tax advisors.

The evidence sessions will start at 3:35pm on Tuesday 14 May in Committee Room 1 of the House of Lord. The full details of the witnesses are:

• 3:35pm John Bartlett, Group Head of Tax, BP
  Helen Jones, Senior Vice President, Head of Tax, GSK
  Paul Morton, Head of Group Tax, Reed Elsevier

• 4:15pm Frank Haskew, Head of Tax Faculty, ICAEW
  Elspeth Orcharton, Director of Taxation, ICAS
  Chas Roy-Chowdhury, Head of Taxation, ACCA
  Richard Woolhouse, Head of Tax and Fiscal Policy, CBI

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