MPs have criticised the overcomplicated tax system as an obstacle to growth, creating compliance burdens, confusion and disincentives to grow a business, while abolition of the Office of Tax Simplification has made the situation worse
Members of the Treasury Committee are calling for a simplification of the tax system and are highly critical of the government’s decision to close the independent Office of Tax Simplification (OTS).
The MPs argue that, given the Chancellor has stated his intention to ‘make progress in simplifying the tax system’, the government’s performance must be subject to public scrutiny. However, now that responsibility for simplification sits with the Treasury and HMRC, there is no transparency about how they are reviewing the tax system.
The government does not have a framework to assess the complexity of tax rules despite announcing its abolition last November. Earlier this year, the Chancellor told the Treasury Committee: ‘Due to the variety of taxpayers, there is no single indicator to measure tax simplification. The government is considering how best to measure its progress in this area.’
T
