UK Parliament / Open data

Parliamentary Standards Bill

I appreciate that point, and I hope that it would have to follow automatically that IPSA did that. However, in proposed new subsection (3), the hon. Gentleman wants IPSA to""provide general guidance to Members on relevant principles and considerations of due parliamentary standards to be reflected in the preparation and submission of their tax returns, in particular as they relate to property, items or benefits funded or part-funded by the Members of Parliament's allowances"." That is where I think that a much greater difficulty arises. It seems to me to be turning IPSA into one's accountant, and I am not sure that that is the right role to request of it. IPSA will be placed in a difficult situation when it comes to the question of whether it is there to advise MPs on how they should best go about their taxation business to minimise tax or to advise them on the standards of morality that should apply to their tax returns. Those are two rather different things.

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Reference

495 c231 

Session

2008-09

Chamber / Committee

House of Commons chamber
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