Open letter to the chancellor of the exchequer Rachel Reeves

Dear Chancellor

Congratulations on your new appointment. We have never met so I just thought I would briefly introduce myself. My name is Mark Morton. I originally started my career in the old Inland Revenue as a tax inspector and I then moved into private practice and spent the last 27 years lecturing to and advising small and medium-sized firms of accountants which act for SME businesses.

In 2015 the document Making tax easier: The end of the tax return was published. The purported aim of the project was stated as follows:

‘As part of the government’s vision to modernise the tax system tax returns will be replaced by digital tax accounts for millions of individuals and businesses. They will bring together each taxpayer’s details in one place just like an online bank account so they can register for new...