Brain surgery made easy

THE TAX LAW rewrite concept and its admirable achievements in translating swathes of complex and sometimes arcane direct tax legislation into language which is more coherently arranged and easier to understand will be familiar to readers who advise on direct tax. A rewrite of VAT legislation has now been proposed although in this case the project focuses exclusively on the option to tax legislation.

The current legislation on the option to tax for VAT has the unenviable reputation of being among the most tortuous and incomprehensible on the statute book yet it is of widespread practical importance. Its application affects the VAT treatment of many commercial property transactions and its complexity can transform even a straightforward property transaction into an exercise in meticulously plotting a journey through a potential VAT minefield.

The announcement by the Chancellor in his pre-Budget statement on 5 December 2005 that the...