It is a brave government that responds sympathetically to big business's pleas on tax not once but twice in two days.

On Wednesday, Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs outlined plans to give companies tax rulings in advance of big corporate decisions, rather than waiting until later to clobber them with adverse judgments. Yesterday it came out with plans to exempt from tax profits paid to large and medium-sized companies by foreign subsidiaries. Such a move would bring the UK into line with rival economies. Put these two developments together with the cut in corporation tax announced in March and corporate Britain appears to be receiving a positive response to its three main demands for improving tax competitiveness: greater certainty, a reduced administrative burden and a lower rate.