Tax Law Rewrite Project Publishes Draft Of Fifth Bill

by Jason Gorringe, Tax-News.com, London

26 February 2008

The Tax Law Rewrite project, which is modernising UK direct tax law so that it is clearer and easier to use, on Friday published a draft of its fifth Bill.

In a written statement to Parliament, the Financial Secretary to the Treasury, Jane Kennedy MP, announced that:

"I am pleased to tell the House that Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs will shortly publish a draft of the Tax Law Rewrite project's fifth Bill, the Corporation Tax Bill, which is the first of two Bills which will rewrite substantially the whole of the primary legislation relating to corporation tax. This Bill will cover the basic provisions relating to the charge to corporation tax and includes the main provisions used by companies in computing their income."

The statement also revealed that:

• The scope of this new Bill and the timing of consultation was agreed with the project's Consultative and Steering Committees which together include the main representative bodies and other interested parties;
• It benefits from a style and presentation structure that has been developed as a result of consultation over the previous rewrite Bills;
• The Bill's provisions have already benefited from extensive discussions between HM Revenue & Customs and the tax profession.

The Tax Law Rewrite project aims to rewrite the UK's primary direct tax legislation so that it is clearer and easier to use, but without changing its general effect.

The key features of the project are:

• Clearer, more logical structure for tax legislation;
• Use of plain language and other reader aids;
• No alteration of main tax policies;
• Some minor policy changes, where these further improve the current legislation;
• Full consultation with interested parties throughout the life of the project; and
• Streamlined Parliamentary procedures for enacting "rewrite Bills".

Recommended