ICAEW.com works better with JavaScript enabled.

TAX NEWS

Treasury Committee reports on abolition of the OTS

Article

Published: 20 Jun 2023 Update History

The House of Commons Treasury Select Committee calls for enhanced accountability of government efforts to simplify the UK’s overcomplicated and burdensome tax system. The abolition of the Office for Tax Simplification (OTS) is due to be given statutory effect by the enactment of Finance (No. 2) Bill 2023.

The report, published on 16 June 2023, acknowledges that the UK tax system is overcomplicated and is creating unnecessary compliance burdens, confusion and disincentives to work or grow a business. In short, it describes the tax system as an obstacle to economic dynamism.

Examples mentioned in the report include the complexity of the R&D tax relief regime and cliff edges in the tax system (particularly around the £100,000–£150,000 income range) which, at worst, could result in someone becoming worse off by earning more money.

The report notes the Chancellor’s agreement that the trend for the tax system to become ever more complicated must be reversed. It observes that disbanding the OTS risks signalling that tax simplification is not a priority for the government.

Members of the committee tabled report stage amendments to the Finance Bill. One of these seeks to place a statutory requirement on the Treasury to report annually to the committee on actions taken to simplify the tax system. Such reports would include information on steps to:

  • simplify existing taxes, tax reliefs and allowances; 
  • simplify new taxes, tax reliefs and allowances; 
  • engage with stakeholders to understand needs for tax simplification; and 
  • develop metrics to measure performance on tax simplification, and on performance against those metrics.

The report concludes: "Should the Government proceed with abolishing the OTS, we recommend they report to the Treasury Committee annually on steps taken to simplify the tax system, covering both new and existing taxes. Such reports should set out performance against tax simplification metrics, compare the complexity of the UK tax system with other countries and set out what the Treasury has done to understand taxpayer needs for tax simplification."

The Tax Faculty

ICAEW's Tax Faculty is recognised internationally as a leading authority and source of expertise on taxation. The faculty is the voice of tax for ICAEW, responsible for all submissions to the tax authorities. Join the Faculty for expert guidance and support enabling you to provide the best advice on tax to your clients or business.

More support on tax

ICAEW's Tax Faculty provides technical guidance and practical support on tax practice and policy. You can sign up to the Tax Faculty's free enewsletter (TAXwire) which provides weekly updates on developments in tax.

Sign up for TAXwireJoin the Tax Faculty

More from the Tax Faculty

Latest news
Making tax digital image
TAXwire

Stay up to date with the latest developments in tax by signing up to the Tax Faculty's weekly e-newsletter

Practical guidance
Cover
TAXline

Comprehensive support for Tax practitioners each month from the Tax Faculty and expert contributors.

Technical support
Tax Faculty image
Webinars

Expert advice from the Tax Faculty's technical managers on all the developments in tax policy and practice.

Open AddCPD icon

Add Verified CPD Activity

Introducing AddCPD, a new way to record your CPD activities!

Log in to start using the AddCPD tool. Available only to ICAEW members.

Add this page to your CPD activity

Step 1 of 3
Download recorded
Download not recorded

Please download the related document if you wish to add this activity to your record

What time are you claiming for this activity?
Mandatory fields

Add this page to your CPD activity

Step 2 of 3
Mandatory field

Add activity to my record

Step 3 of 3
Mandatory field

Activity added

An error has occurred
Please try again

If the problem persists please contact our helpline on +44 (0)1908 248 250