The Chartered Institute of Taxation has called on the government to consult multinational companies on proposed tax changes and keep compliance burdens to a minimum if it wants them to remain based in the UK.

The organisation believes inadequate pre-consultation on changes that have been made in successive Budgets and pre-Budget reports have forced international businesses to regularly rearrange their structures.

It is calling for more targeted measures than the current ‘controlled companies' regime envisaged by the recent foreign profits proposals to ensure the compliance burden is kept to a minimum.

"Regarding the substance of the recent proposals on foreign profits, the government does have a need, which we recognise, to protect the corporate tax base," said Ian Menzies-Conacher, chairman of the CIOT's technical committee.

"The Chartered Institute of Taxation believes that consultation is the key to producing tax law that achieves the government's objectives."