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The Office for Tax Simplification
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20 July 2010
Chancellor Osborne has announced the creation of an Office for Tax Simplification to be run by former Conservative MP and Treasury minister Michael Jack and John Whiting, tax director at the Chartered Institute of Taxation.
Osborne believes that the "spaghetti bowl" of UK tax legislation is a drain on business and a hindrance to foreign investment. He described it as "one of the most complex and opaque tax codes in the world" and set one of the goals of the OTS to be “that people might actually understand the tax laws with which they were being asked to comply with".
The initial brief is to streamline 400 tax reliefs, allowances and exemptions and simplify the tax system for small businesses. The review includes finding a simpler alternative to IR35.
Treasury minister David Gauke said: "The tax system created by the previous government was overly complex and has made the tax affairs of millions of families and businesses across the UK extremely complicated. We need to reduce the complexities in our tax system and the coalition is committed to delivering that goal.”