Business News
Review of Britain’s taxes identifies over 1,000 tax reliefs
Following a review of the UK’s taxes, experts have identified over 1,000 reliefs in the Britain’s tax system, prompting warnings that the Chancellor may decide to scrap ‘dozens or even hundreds’ of tax breaks to save the Government money.
The Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) has recently published details of the 1,042 reliefs currently available.
As a result, the OTS is now looking at which reliefs can be streamlined or abolished as part of its efforts to simplify and improve the tax system. The Office of Tax Simplification is due to submit its recommendations to the Chancellor ahead of next year’s Budget in March.
The Chancellor has already announced restrictions on the tax relief on pension contributions, saving the Government more than £4 billion over the next few years.
John Whiting, Tax Director for the OTS commented on the findings:
“I am sure some people will be surprised by the sheer number of reliefs in today's tax system. Many have a clear and highly valued benefit so clearly we would not seek to change those.
“Others, however, may simply no longer be used, or are too complex and burdensome to be properly effective, so it is these that I want my team to focus on.”
David Gurke, Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury explained: “This is exactly why we established the Office of Tax Simplification earlier this year to look at ways in which we can simplify the tax system for all taxpayers.”
Please visit the Treasury website for more information on the recent review, including a full list of tax reliefs.
