The Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT) has claimed this week that UK tax laws are not compliant with EU laws in a number of areas and has warned that the uncertainty this causes could be bad for UK businesses and other taxpayers.
The taxes they cite as examples of this include corporation tax, inheritance tax and personal tax and they say that the measures taken to make them compliant come under the Finance Act 2013 but that they have not succeeded in their aim.
According to the CIOT, a number of measures in the Finance Act 2013 were responding to identified inconsistencies between UK and EU law, for example in respect of the right of companies to have the freedom to establish themselves in any EU country, without facing discrimination.
However, the CIOT says that it does not believe any of the measures have actually succeeded in making UK law EU-compliant, with the result that businesses and taxpayers continue to be denied certainty in regard to significant aspects of their tax affairs.
The organisation goes on to say that it is disappointed that both HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) and the Treasury have ignored its arguments explaining why it does not think the proposals are compliant, despite the letters they have written outlining their arguments.
A spokesman for the CIOT went on to say that the consequences of non-compliance mean that taxpayers remain in practical difficulty and will have to continue to rely on their EU rights, enforcing these, where necessary, through the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU).
However, as he points out, this can be complex, costly and very lengthy and also means that the Exchequer is likely to be subject to significant claims to repay tax and interest to taxpayers.