Mortgage News
Barclays hits out at ‘unwarranted’ retrospective tax action
Andrew Tyrie, the chairman of the Treasury Select Committee, has asked George Osborne to respond to suggestions from Barclays that retrospective tax action taken against the bank earlier this year was “unwarranted”.
In February, the government introduced new legislation to prevent the use of two aggressive tax avoidance schemes used by Barclays, after being informed by HMRC.
It also ordered the bank to pay £500m in tax it had tried to avoid.
Tyrie asked Barclays for its perspective on the action following a meeting with chief executive Bob Diamond on 17 April.
In a letter to Tyrie, Diamond explained how it had come about after the bank had disclosed to HMRC that it had repurchased some of its debt in a “tax efficient manner”, expressing his surprise it had been singled out by the government following this.
“The way in which this situation was handled seems to us to have been completely unwarranted,” he added.
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“Unnecessary damage was placed on Barclays’ reputation just at a time when the focus should be on rebuilding confidence and accelerating growth, not undermining it.”
Tyrie subsequently wrote to the Chancellor asking for his comments on the decision.
“I have forwarded Mr Diamond’s letter to the Chancellor. It is important that we find out what happened here,” he said.
“Barclays have expressed concerns about the handling of this issue and a response from the Treasury, in consultation with HMRC, is appropriate.”