Experts urge new PM to improve tax system

The CIOT has identified three strategic priorities for the new Prime Minister to take into consideration to improve the current tax system.

The President of the Chartered Institute of Taxation, Susan Ball, has written to both Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss setting out the Institute’s views on what should be the new Prime Minister’s priorities for the tax system. Each letter says:

‘The current Conservative leadership debate has focused attention on what should be the next Prime Minister’s priorities in terms of tax and spending plans. These are rightly tax policy questions for the new Prime Minister’s Government and Parliament to decide.

‘However, given the pressing public interest in a better working tax system, the Chartered Institute of Taxation has identified three linked priorities which we think are widely supported and the new Prime Minister must act upon.’

In the letters, the CIOT is recommending:

Prioritising investment in HMRC to improve performance – the CIOT believes that a properly funded and efficient HMRC is vital to the future of the UK and that currently, its performance standards are falling short and need to be improved if HMRC is to play its essential role in supporting taxpayers and businesses.

Review Making Tax Digital (MTD) – the CIOT is recommending an improvement of the efficiency of MTD.

It agrees that digitalisation offers the best way to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the tax system. However, there are concerns that the timetable for MTD is becoming unrealistic.

Simplifying the tax system – the CIOT believes that the UK tax system has become too complicated for taxpayers to understand and comply with, and so recommends that the new PM should undertake a more ambitious tax simplification programme (resisting the temptation to make major structural changes to the system until this has been achieved).

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