Taxation – ICA slams tax bill complexity

Taxation - ICA slams tax bill complexity

Tax experts at the English ICA attacked the government this week for failing to produce a simplified finance bill.

The institute’s tax faculty criticised the bill for being complex and verbose and has recommended improvements for easier interpretation by individual taxpayers.

The faculty also highlighted problem areas in the new system of capital gains tax where indexation relief is being replaced by taper relief.

Robert Maas, chairman of the institute’s technical committee, said: ‘These changes have not been properly thought through. If the government had intended to devise a scheme to abolish indexation while keeping it on the statute books for as long as possible, it could not have come up with a more satisfactory solution.’

Further criticism was levelled at the retrospective taxation and ability of the Revenue to secretly impose future tax charges. Among the recommendations from the faculty was the appointment of an officer responsible for reviewing finance bills. Maas said it would have been better to make no changes rather than those contained in the bill. He added: ‘We recommend the implementation of the change is delayed for at least one year to allow for proper consultation.’

Derek Jenkins, a tax partner at Coopers & Lybrand, said: ‘It puts it beyond the reach of the individual taxpayer.’

Share

Subscribe to get your daily business insights

Resources & Whitepapers

Why Professional Services Firms Should Ditch Folders and Embrace Metadata
Professional Services

Why Professional Services Firms Should Ditch Folders and Embrace Metadata

3y

Why Professional Services Firms Should Ditch Folde...

In the past decade, the professional services industry has transformed significantly. Digital disruptions, increased competition, and changing market ...

View resource
2 Vital keys to Remaining Competitive for Professional Services Firms

2 Vital keys to Remaining Competitive for Professional Services Firms

3y

2 Vital keys to Remaining Competitive for Professi...

In recent months, professional services firms are facing more pressure than ever to deliver value to clients. Often, clients look at the firms own inf...

View resource
Turn Accounts Payable into a value-engine
Accounting Firms

Turn Accounts Payable into a value-engine

3y

Turn Accounts Payable into a value-engine

In a world of instant results and automated workloads, the potential for AP to drive insights and transform results is enormous. But, if you’re still ...

View resource
Digital Links: A guide to MTD in 2021
Making Tax Digital

Digital Links: A guide to MTD in 2021

3y

Digital Links: A guide to MTD in 2021

The first phase of Making Tax Digital (MTD) saw the requirement for the digital submission of the VAT Return using compliant software. That’s now behi...

View resource