Category: Employment Law, Taxation and Legislation for Contractors

The government's proposals to improve the process of tax policy-making have been welcomed by the Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT).

Reform of the tax law process has been on the CIOT's agenda for a long time and it has called for improvements on many occasions.

The government has now published a report, entitled Tax policy making: A new approach, discussing the issue.

It is a "big step" towards improving the system, said CIOT president Vincent Oratore.

"Our tax law process is deeply flawed," he commented.

"There is not enough expert scrutiny and there is insufficient parliamentary time to consider properly the effect that changes will have in practice."

This often leads to badly constructed laws which harm some taxpayers and benefit others, Mr Oratore continued.

An independent Office of Tax Simplification could play a crucial role in making the system simpler and more transparent, he pointed out.

Posted by Daniel Frost