Public Parliament Tax Affairs Bill

A Bill To

A bill to increase transparency in the House of Commons through providing tax return information.

BE IT ENACTED by the Queen’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—

Section 1: Definitions

(1) For the purpose of this bill “tax returns” shall refer to any type of returns filed with Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC).

(2) For the purpose of this bill “MP” shall refer to any member of the House of Commons.

(3) For the purpose of this bill “RMI” shall refer to Register of Members’ Financial Interests as maintained by the Parliamentary for Commissioner for Standards.

Section 2: Public Returns

(1) All MPs must disclose their tax returns to the RMI at the time they take office and every year they hold office.

(a) Tax returns must be submitted before the 31st of February.

(b) MPs taking office following a general election or by-election must publish their tax returns within 30 days of the moment they take office.

(2) Should the tax returns of an MP change in any way, then the MP must inform the RMI within 28 days.

Section 3: Punishment

(1) Failure to comply with this act shall be subject to the same penalties as breaking The Code of Conduct for Members of Parliament as set in Section VI of The Code of Conduct for Members of Parliament.

(2) MPs that fail to disclose their tax returns to the RMI shall be added to a public list maintained by the Parliamentary for Commissioner for Standards.

Section 5: Commencement, Short Title and Effect

(1) This bill extends to the whole of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

(2) This bill shall be referred to as the “Public Parliament Tax Affairs Bill 2016”.

(3) This bill shall come into effect immediately, with MPs being expected to publish their tax returns on the 31st of February 2017 and onwards or from them being elected or reelected, whichever comes first.

This bill was submitted by /u/troe2339, on behalf of UKIP.

The voting period for this bill will end at 10PM BST on the 21st of October.

Vote Aye, No or Abstain. Comments with anything else will be deleted. Comments that are edited will be void and not counted.

If a member is voting by proxy, they must have gained permission from the speaker prior to this vote. If no permission was sought and granted, their vote will not be counted.

For full clarifications on the voting system see this post.