Raising taxes – the challenges of curbing allowances and reliefs

The first task back in 2010 for the now defunct Office for Tax Simplification was to try to calculate the number of tax reliefs in the UK system. It found the total reached more than 1 000. The conventional wisdom is that one could make a straightforward and easier tax system by reducing allowances and so called loopholes.

What is a loophole?

I have a problem with the pejorative word loophole it indicates an unintended consequence which parliament has failed either to discuss or indeed correct. For example one has seen the characterisation of non-UK domicile status as a loophole. Given that this has been a feature of the income tax system since 1799 it can hardly be seen as a loophole. Parliament has discussed this many times and has changed the law on occasion. In CRC v English Holdings (BVI) Ltd [2017] UKUT 842...