There have been many developments in the tax world in the last six months and to that end, the lack of blogging on this site has certainly not been because there is little to discuss. Rather, my efforts have been focused elsewhere on writing a book, the manuscript for which was sent off to Hart Publishing last week. The book builds on my doctoral work and is the culmination of six years work. At its heart, it puts forward a simple proposition: that tax authorities should assist taxpayers through the provision of advice. That proposition finds support in the rule of law, in that people ought to be aware of the legal consequences of their actions. More fundamentally it revolves around respect for human dignity – as people ought to be able to plan their lives, with the legal consequences being just one factor which they should be able to consider in the decision-making process. It follows that tax authority advice should be correct, clear, accessible and reliable. A system for advice should also provide a mechanism or mechanisms to ensure that the advice meets these criteria.

Against this background, the book investigates HMRC advice, highlights the pitfalls for taxpayers and practitioners as well as the potential remedies. Finally, the book assesses potential reforms which could be adopted in order to alleviate existing problems.

The book should be published around March next year and the official blurb can be found on Hart’s website.

Normal activity on this site (where the aim is two blogs a month) can now resume.