- Home
- Budget
- Newsroom & speeches
- Economic data
- Consultations & legislation
- Independent reviews
- Financial services
- Infrastructure
- International issues
- Public spending & reporting
- Taxation, work and welfare
-
- Corporate tax
- Indirect tax
- Tax and the environment
- Office of Tax Simplification
- Tax policy making
- Public Sector Pay
- Public Service Pensions (PSP)
- Controlled Foreign Companies (CFCs)
- Taxation of Foreign Branches: documents published prior to 29 November 2010
- Patent Box
- Tax avoidance
- Income tax and National Insurance Contributions (NICs)
- UK economy
- About us
Taxation, work and welfare
Tax Reliefs Review: terms of reference
The Government has commissioned the Office of Tax Simplification to:
- review a list of all reliefs, allowances and exemptions, applying to both businesses and individuals, within the taxes and duties administered by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC); and
- identify those reliefs that should be repealed or simplified to support the Government’s objective for a simpler tax system.
The Office has been asked to produce an interim report in late autumn 2010 and a final report with recommendations to the Chancellor ahead of Budget 2011.
The review should have regard to:
- the impact of removing or simplifying individual reliefs, both for individual taxpayers and the wider economy; and
- the Government’s wider objectives for the tax system including the need for it to be internationally competitive, support fairness and provide sustainable revenue.
The Government is particularly interested in identifying those reliefs that:
- are largely historic or have a policy rationale that has weakened over time;
- are not frequently used;
- benefit a small number of taxpayers but may create distortions in the tax system; or
- are used by larger number of taxpayers but that are complex for business and/or HMRC to administer.
The Office’s work will be informed by consultation with interested parties.
Subject to the outcome and findings of the first stages of this review, the Office may be asked to consider options for simplifying and reforming further reliefs.
