The Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) is to review the VAT system but,in view of the forthcoming Brexit talks, it will exclude a fundamental reassessment of rates.
As proposed in the autumn statement, Jane Ellison, financial secretary to the Treasury, has written to the OTS asking it to begin work on the review, saying the aim was to ensure the VAT regime ‘is fit for purpose in our modern economy’.
The review will focus on VAT accounting simplifications for small and medium-sized enterprises,including annual and cash accounting, the flat rate scheme and the registration threshold.
Ms Ellison also asked the OTS to look at how stamp duty is collected on share transactions, saying that some features of this area of taxation, such as the physical stamping of documents, could benefit from simplification.