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It seems, to say the least, counterintuitive, that the first act of a chancellor committed to simplifying the tax system is to abolish the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS).
I can understand the logic of moving from an arm’s length basis to one in which ‘the government will embed tax simplification into the institutions of government and set a mandate to HM Treasury and HMRC to focus on simplifying the tax code’. However, whether this will happen in reality remains to be seen. It is easy to imagine that ‘have you considered tax simplification?’ will become no more than that – a tick box on any new proposal. I hope I am wrong.
We should mark the passing of the OTS in this column. I was never a member of the OTS but, especially in its early days, was involved in some of its reports. Opinions differ as to how much difference the OTS really made but one thing that always impressed me about its work was the lengths it went to in collecting evidence and opinion about different aspects of the tax system.
It is easy for consultation exercises merely to rely on the views of the ‘usual suspects’ (I suppose that I am one of them) but the OTS’s reports really did manage to reflect a much wider range of views and experiences than most such exercises. Its recommendations were much stronger because of that.
I do hope that this ability to cast the net widely when looking at reform is retained within whatever simplification structure emerges within HMRC and the Treasury.
Even if the OTS is not remembered for anything else – and that would be sad – its innovative approach to evidence should be its lasting legacy.
If you do one thing...
Take a deep breath and consider how you are going to be able to guide clients though this radical new tax world.
