ICAEW attacks 'unclear' tax system

The Tax Faculty produced the document because it says the UK’s tax system is ‘unclear and irrational and has spun out of democratic control’.

Unveiled today, it challenges all parties in parliament to review the tax system against ‘five pledges for good tax policy’.

These are:

i. challenge the assumption that it is necessary to make changes to tax policy every year and undertake only to alter tax legislation when such change is clearly necessary;

ii. publish estimates of the full costs and benefits of any new tax legislation, justifying its introduction and producing the evidence on which this quantification and justification depends;

iii. commit to a policy of consulting on all major tax issues, giving adequate time for views to be considered and to providing detailed feedback on the results of the consultation;

iv. assess all proposed tax legislation against the Institute’s ten tenets for a better tax system; and

v. set up a parliamentary committee to review existing legislation and identify how it can be simplified.

‘With real political will, the way new tax law is introduced can be reformed. The prize of reform will be threefold – freer economic activity, increased national wealth and greater revenue for the Treasury,’ said Francesca Lagerberg of the Tax Faculty.

‘The government needs to take action to rescue taxpayers from the tangled web of anomalies and unnecessary complexities that underpin the UK tax system.

‘Taxpayers are entitled to a better deal from the tax system,’ said Largerberg.

MPs of all parties will be presented with the manifesto, which is believed to be attracting interest from senior officials in Whitehall.

Links

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Tax Faculty calls for further tax reform