Hands off our tax haven
I LEARN from the Wall Street Journal, which learned it from the Inland Revenue, which probably wrote to me but knows that I dare not open the envelope, that Britain is refusing to join something called the OECD and Council of Europe Convention for Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters. This convention is quite obviously a Euro-freeload (Wednesday: time free for comparative tax discussion; shopping excursions for accompanying spouses; visit to local distillery; Burgomas- ter's reception and dinner) from which the Revenue, with admirable austerity, is standing back. It may also be more sinister. It looks like a stalking horse for Euro- conformity. It could get Continental tax- gatherers into this country with the 'mutual assistance', now refused, of the Revenue. By most Continental standards Britain is now a tax-haven. No doubt other coun- tries' taxmen would like to chase after their citizens, telling them to come back and bring their money with them. A tax haven, though, is a haven for talent and capital, and goodness knows we need both. The Chancellor knows it, too, which, I dare say, is why this convention will have to get along without us.
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