One of the first ever speeches I gave was to a conference of tax lawyers and accountants on whether the new Labour government of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown was going to simplify the tax code.
The simple answer was NO.
I pointed out that I didn’t know much about Gordon Brown but I did know that he thought that if he endlessly reformed things eventually we would end up with the best of all worlds.
It was a bit of a micromanagement compulsion that did not serve him well, in the end. Although he did manage to lift millions out of poverty and give them a better start in life, only to see the Tories rip it all up, weaken the NHS, increase child poverty and even see the average height of children decline, which is quite an achievement, of sorts.
So what can the new government do now they are inheriting an economy and system that is creaking at the edges. One answer is to do the exact opposite of Gordon Brown.
The UK tax system is ever more complicated which means ever more loop holes. There are endless tax breaks, for which the government has virtually no evidence that they work. There are tax anomalies, like the two child limit on child benefit and a thousand others.
For instance there is a £1 million tax break on CGT for people who sell their businesses, why? No one knows if it works, it was presumably set up to encourage entrepreneurs, although I don’t think many 20 year olds set up a business because they might get a tax free lump sum in 40 years time. Fuel duty has been frozen for so long it is costing billions a year, even while the planet roasts. .
A simple Treasury led Commission, with the first proposals put to the Chancellor with in a month and a permanent remit to simplify the tax code, cut loop holes, end pointless subsidies and bring in more money might really work.
Because 27 years after Labour came the power the tax code looks more like a bowl of spaghetti than ever.
Economics, trade and Brexit, not necessarily in that order but the dog always comes first.
By Jonty Bloom Media
Wasn’t there a tax guru in The 1990s who came up with a number of suggestions to improve the tax system….isn’t it time to bring it out again was it called a tax simplification commission oh wait a moment Google says it exists !! ?https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/sites/default/files/2023-04/office-tax-simplification_0.pdf