Taxation: Avoidance

Debate between Lord Deighton and Lord Empey

Wednesday 6th February 2013 Lords Chamber

[Lord Deighton]

I thank my noble friend for that important addition to the debate. I was not aware of that but I am delighted that he has been able to share it with the House.

[Lord Empey]

What is the role of the Charity Commission in this? If an organisation pays out to good causes only less than 1% of its revenue, does an alarm bell ring somewhere?

[Lord Deighton]

In this particular case, as I understand it, the Charity Commission, which works closely with HMRC, investigated the trust but found that it did not have the legal basis to make a challenge. In that context, I refer to the review of the noble Lord, Lord Hodgson, the follow-up from the Government and the announcement made in the other House this morning that the focus of the new chairman, Mr Shawcross, should be on its role as a regulator.