Following the closure of the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) in 2023, there has been a need for an update of their last review of the competitiveness of the UK’s tax administration, which was published in October 2014.
The OTS’s October 2014 report made 60 recommendations to improve the running of the UK’s business tax system; all made with an eye to reducing admin burdens and so increasing competitiveness. But what has happened in the intervening years? Has the UK’s tax competitiveness improved? What could be done in today’s environment to improve the situation and reduce burdens on business?
A new report on tax complexity has just been published by Brunel Business School to address these questions and more; produced by Andy Richens (former OTS policy advisor and part of leadership of the 2014 Competitiveness project), Prof Peter Jelfs (Brunel University of London), Prof Kevin McMeeking (University of Bristol) and Sam Sherwood (PhD student, Brunel University of London). The work was generously supported by ICAEW.
As part of this latest review, a series of 35 interviews were held with businesses, academics, industry organisations, tax professionals and their representative bodies and government policymakers, to assess what progress has been made, and to set out recommendations for today’s policymakers.
This report ranges widely, covering areas that the OTS looked at but also new subjects including innovation and growth. There are recommendations on all areas which deserve serious study by tax policy makers. Progressing them could lead to a roadmap for reducing the admin burdens the UK’s tax system places on business – and so improve the UK’s competitiveness.
Access the full report here