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The UK's tax set-up is ‘remote and confusing’ for many people, according to the Treasury, which has launched consultations on enhancing simplicity and transparency.
The department has issued two documents, the first of which, Modernising the Administration of the Personal Tax System, proposes methods by which taxpayers can more easily access information about their personal payments to HMRC.
Taxpayers, representative bodies, and tax professionals are invited to give their views on:
- what individuals and businesses know about the tax they pay;
- what areas of the personal tax system create the most difficulty;
- how technology can help them better access and understand their tax position; and
- how we can engage with individual taxpayers in hearing their views on how the tax system could be modernised.
‘For many taxpayers, the tax system can feel remote and confusing. The government believes people’s understanding of what they pay could be better,’ according to the Treasury, which has also published Integrating the Operation of Income Tax and National Insurance Contributions: Next Steps.
The paper summarises the results of a recent call for evidence, and it lays the parameters by which the government will assess options for reform. Ministers are working to establish technical working groups to identify and explore options; employers, tax experts and payroll professionals are being sought to join the groups.
‘For a lot of people, the tax line on their payslip is the only time they see just how much they’re paying in tax, but the government doesn’t think that’s good enough,’ said the Exchequer secretary, David Gauke.
‘We want to make tax more transparent, and we want people to be more engaged with their own tax affairs… Our vision is to transform the customer [sic] experience of the personal tax system.’
MIKE TRUMAN, editor of Taxation, is not convinced by the Treasury’s latest condocs – and he says so in this week’s Comment article.
