.png)
.png)
The Government is inviting expert views on a number of proposed tax policies, having today published nine documents for discussion and consultation to applause from within the tax sector.
The papers, which were unveiled by the Exchequer secretary to the Treasury, David Gauke, cover the following subjects:
- PAYE reform
- Furnished holiday lettings
- Pensions tax relief
- Associated company rules
- Disclosure of inheritance tax avoidance
- Foreign branch taxation
- Controlled foreign company interim improvements
- Modernisation of investment trust company rules
- National minimum wage regulations
The president of the Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT), Vincent Oratore, welcomed ministers’ ‘commitment to meaningful consultation on tax issues’ and claimed the nine new documents were ‘evidence of the willingness of the administration to listen to the concerns and suggestions of the tax profession and work with us to produce a more efficient tax system.
‘The Government’s objective of simplifying the system and reducing burdens on business and individual taxpayers is one that the CIOT shares. The more comprehensible the tax system the more likely it is to command public and business confidence and the more likely taxpayers are to get their tax right,’ added Mr Oratore.
HMRC are eager to receive opinions from tax professionals, employers and payroll operators on the planned reform of PAYE. The department wishes to pay particular attention to how real-time PAYE information could support the tax and welfare system.
The Revenue believes real-time data would:
- Make it easier to ensure individuals pay the right tax after a change of job and possibly remove the need for the P45/P46 procedure
- Offer the prospect of simplifying the PAYE end-of-year reconciliation process for employers and the taxman.
- Allow income related benefits and welfare payments to better reflect the current circumstances of the individual.
- Remove much of the uncertainty that leads to errors in the tax credits system.
Vincent Oratore remarked that the discussion document Improving the Operation of the PAYE System ‘seems to acknowledge many of the problems with the PAYE system that we and other bodies have long highlighted, and it offers the opportunity of real change to a system that, for all its merits, is creaking badly and imposing too many burdens on employers.’
The Treasury’s intention to modernisation of investment trust company rules was another of today’s measures given a fillip.
The director general of the Association of Investment Companies, Ian Sayers, said that ‘traditionally, the tax rules have meant investment trusts have focused on equity investment’, but the proposed reforms ‘will offer the opportunity to diversify and offer new means of generating shareholder returns’ as well as helping to ‘reduce the bureaucracy involved with maintaining an investment trust’s tax status.’
