23rd Nov 2007
A bad week for Varney. And where is his report anyway?
Sir David Varney’s report into business taxation in Northern Ireland was to be published yesterday but alas the British government has been forced to delay in the face of what appears to be a very hard kick back from the Assembly and business groups across Ireland. Word on O’Conall Street is that we may see something next week. In the meantime all the representative groups and politicos are taking full advantage of the extra window to lob more arguments in favour of harmonisation Sir David’s way. And the arguments are very strong as O’Conall Street noted some weeks ago. The level of support in the business community for harmonisation was underlined by the publication this week of an ICAI survey which shows overwhelming support for a reduction in corporation tax amongst Chartered Accountants in Northern Ireland.
It has been a bad week for Sir David. Gordon Brown brought him in to oversee the merger of HM Customs and the Inland Revenue and the turn of the Millennium. Sir David was the first chair of the only public body to loose every child’s personal details in the post. There is a long list of commentators suggesting this monumental cock up can be traced back to the less then perfect business processes which Sir David pushed through. We should remember also that Sir David quit following revelations of £1.28 billion a year being lost through fraud and errors in the tax credits system. I will find it a little harder to take his report seriously after this week’s events.
We await publication with interest.
From Belfast Telegraph today
“Gordon Brown last night indicated he is unlikely to back down over a tax cut in Northern Ireland as he insisted a package of incentives could make the province as competitive as the Republic.”
No surprise there then unfortunately.