Treasury Committee Criticises Gordon Brown For Failing To Simplify Tax System

by Jason Gorringe, Tax-News.com, London

29 July 2002

The Treasury Committee last week condemned UK Chancellor Gordon Brown for failing to simplify the self-assessment system for individual taxpayers.

In a report on the SA scheme released on Thursday, the Labour-dominated committee expressed its disappointment that Mr Brown had not addressed the matter in his most recent budget, arguing that given the current complexity of the system, 'there should be annual changes to the tax system aimed solely at simplification'.

According to a report in the Daily Telegraph on Friday, the report went on to state that even tax experts find the system hard to understand, citing the example of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Scotland, which noted recently that: 'the tax calculation guide (even in its simplified version) is a confusing document that can baffle the most experienced professional tax specialists.'

The failure of the Inland Revenue's online filing service earlier this year was also mentioned in the report, according to the Telegraph. The Treasury Committee warned darkly that:

'The Revenue will only achieve its ambitious target of 50% take-up by 2005 if it offers a reliable service that meets users' expectations . In this context we are concerned that one in five attempts to file fail.'

The newspaper reported that the Treasury declined to comment.

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