Simplifying tax for the future: planning the OTS’s strategy
Commenting on the Office of Tax Simplification’s (OTS) plans for its future strategy, LITRG sees that Office’s role as facilitating better public understanding of tax and more informed public debate. We also urge the early involvement of the OTS in policy making within HMRC and the Treasury.
The planned digitalisation of the tax system should provide many simplifying opportunities and the OTS should be consulted at every stage. HMRC’s more complex and unwieldy administrative systems could also benefit from the OTS’s ideas on simplification.
In addition, the OTS should take a close interest in every finance bill while it is still in draft form – indeed no provision should be debated in Parliament until the OTS has had an opportunity to review it.
LITRG also suggests a number of areas which the OTS could usefully examine in future years.
The OT future strategy consultation document can be found on GOV.UK.
LITRG’s comments can be found
.
Robin Williamson