The Government has revealed plans to overhaul the personal tax system with the launch of a discussion paper setting out ways to make information clearer.
The paper, titled ‘Modernising the Administration of the Personal Tax System‘, details a range of ideas on how people can get better access to information on their personal taxes. The Government is then calling on taxpayers, representative bodies, and tax professionals to give their views on various issues including what taxpayers know about the tax they pay, and what areas of the personal tax system create the most difficulty.
In parallel to this, work continues on the integration of income tax and national insurance contributions (NICs) with a paper summarising the results of recent calls for evidence on the issue. The Government is now setting up a number of technical working groups, to identify and explore options further over the coming months.
Commenting, Exchequer Secretary, David Gauke said: “At the moment, for a lot of people, the tax line on their pay slip is the only time they see just how much they’re paying in tax, but the Government doesn’t think that’s good enough. We want to make tax more transparent and we want people to be more engaged with their own tax affairs.
“We plan to lift the lid on tax so that people understand how much they are paying, what their overall tax rate is, and what they should be paying, in the same way that the Government has lifted the lid on what they are paying for.
“We are also exploring ways in which we could integrate the operation of income tax and NICs, with benefits for employers and employees. The Government will be working in partnership with external stakeholders to identify options and will report on progress at Budget 2012.
“Our vision is to transform the customer experience of the personal tax system. The documents published today set the stage for the ideas and innovations that will realise that ambition.”
