Audit: Tax Avoidance

Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform written question – answered at on 22 January 2008.

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Photo of Austin Mitchell Austin Mitchell Labour, Great Grimsby

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform if he will introduce legislation to prevent auditors of banks from selling tax avoidance schemes to their audit clients.

Photo of Stephen Timms Stephen Timms Minister of State (Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform) (Competitiveness)

I have no plans to do so. The provision of taxation services to audit clients is already regulated in two ways:

by the Ethical Standards of the Auditing Practices Board, which auditors are required to follow. These standards require auditors to adopt safeguards to mitigate any threats to their objectivity which might result from their providing tax services, or to refrain from providing the services. by the requirement on companies to disclose in their annual accounts any sums paid to their auditors for taxation services.

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