John McDonnell, Chancellor of the Shadow Cabinet of the British Opposition, in his speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, said that auditors should strictly comply with the ethical requirements put into the profession. In his opinion, it would be good for auditors to swear allegiance to moral and ethical principles of behavior, just as doctors do.
McDonnell’s critique is aimed at the representatives of the Big Four, which, in his opinion, does not yet sufficiently prevent from the situations of tax evasion by the largest corporations in the world. John McDonnell expressed his dissatisfaction with the work of Big Four and emphasized that its representatives need to radically change their approaches to work and take more care of the interests of society.
“I believe that we need a new Hippocratic Oath in the audit, and representatives of the profession would confirm their intention to fight tax optimization schemes, instead of helping to create such schemes” – McDonnell said. According to him, the society is already tired of such schemes, which every year become more perfect and more professional, because they are created by auditors who have a personal interest in hiding the real incomes of their clients.
However, the offer of John McDonnell did not receive a comprehensive support, and some experts generally described it as absurd. In particular, Richard Murphy, a well-known British specialist in finance and financial fraud, says that comparing medicine with the audit is somewhat incorrect. The medical sphere is carefully regulated, therefore, the Hippocratic Oath is, rather, a symbolic and there is no real necessity in it. As for the audit, there is a need for a strong partnership between taxpayers, their auditors and the government. The tax compliance will be simple and understandable only under such conditions.