Office of Simplification change and review
5th October 2022The Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng has announced on 23 September as part of the fiscal event that the Office of Tax Simplification will be closed.
The Department was set up by former prime minister David Cameron and chancellor George Osborne in the first weeks of their coalition government.
The OTS, which is an independent adviser to the government and answerable to the Treasury, was created to provide the chancellor with advice on tax reforms that would assist individuals and small businesses in particular.
But, Kwarteng mini-budget said he wanted to mainstream the OTS’s work across the Treasury and HM Revenue and Customs.
Announcing the OTS’s abolition, Kwarteng said: “…instead of a single arm’s-length body which is separate from the Treasury and HMRC, we need to embed tax simplification into the heart of government.
“That is why I have decided to wind down the Office of Tax Simplification and mandated every one of my tax officials to concentrate on simplifying our tax code.”
The Office expects to publish its report on the taxation of Property Income in October.
A statement on the OTS website acknowledged Kwarteng’s decision, but noted that it would not be enacted with immediate effect.
Disclaimer - All information in this post was correct at time of writing.
