On March 23rd the Financial Secretary to the treasury announced HM Treasury’s first five-year review of the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS), the Chancellor’s independent adviser on making the tax-system simpler and easier to interact with for tax payers.
This is an internal review conducted by HM Treasury. The review will engage with a variety of interested stakeholders, including individuals, businesses, tax professionals and academics via interviews and roundtables.
In the new call for evidence, the treasury said that whilst the review is internal, it is keen to gather the views that stakeholders, business, tax professionals and academics have on the OTS.
The Treasury is seeking views on the resourcing, funding and governance of the OTS. The OTS’s relationship with HMRC, the OTS work to date; the impact of the OTS’s work on the governments approach to tax simplification and steps that could be taken to enhance the effectiveness of the OTS.
The call for evidence also asks stakeholders whether they believe the OTS is sufficiently independent from the government, and whether it has the correct breath of expertise on its board.
The treasury stated that the outcomes arising from the review will be published in the autumn of 2021.
