Tax Law Review Committee

Response of the IFS Tax Law Review Committee to the HMRC consultation: Amending HMRC’s Civil Information Powers published in July 2018 (“the Consultation”)

This paper considers what safeguards are available and the extent to which the safeguards are adequate given the increased powers parliament is giving to HMRC.

The Modernising Judicial Terms and Conditions Consultation Document sets out proposals to introduce a new tenure for fee paid office holders, provide for fixed term leadership positions, and modernise judicial terms and conditions. The Tax Law Review Committee is responding to the proposals regarding the introduction of new tenures to newly appointed and possibly existing fee paid judges. It is responding from the perspective of expertise in tax and with particular regard to the impact of the proposals on the Tax Chamber. Although many of the comments may apply to other Chambers, practitioners in those areas will be able to offer better informed insight.

This paper was produced by the Tax Law Review Committee at IFS.

Response to Consultation October 2016

This paper considers the development of HMRC’s discretionary powers and the limits applied by the courts on the use of those powers with particular reference to the legitimate expectation rule.

This paper considers what the OTS has achieved to date and what can be learnt about the impact of the OTS on simplification of the tax system.

This report examines the European Commission's draft plans to introduce a Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB) for EU group companies.

A Tax Law Review Committee discussion paper considering tax policy making in the UK

This paper surveys the potential benefits of integration and the potential obstacles.

This Discussion Paper provides detailed consideration of selected existing corporate tax legislation concerning schedule A, the antiavoidance rules for companies and the rules for group relief set out in schedule 18 TA 1988.

The TLRC Committee has been considering the relationship between tax and accounting measures of business income. This paper builds on the earlier discussion paper DP2 issued in April 2002, which set out some of the general issues of principle involved in any such alignment. The government is clearly attracted to aligning the corporate tax system more closely with account, and significant legislative advances in this direction have already been achieved. As a general matter this is to be welcomed, for reasons which are examined in this paper. But an examination of the principles involved leads us to conclude that now is the time to reflect on where the limits to alignment might lie. It is with this question in mind that Graeme Macdonald and Martin have written this paper at the request of the Committee as a response to the August 2003 consultation document, Corporation Tax Reform.

This is a response by the Tax Law Review Committee of the Institute for Fiscal Studies to the invitation to comment on the questions raised in the consultation paper on civil partnerships.

In December 2001, the TLRC established a working party under the Chairmanship of Sir Alan Budd. The Working Party's terms of reference were Ӕo review the institutional processes for the Parliamentary scrutiny of tax proposals and for the enactment of tax legislation and to consider whether changes to those processes would promote simplification and improve the quality of tax legislation and, if so, what the nature of those institutional changes should be.Ԡ This Reports sets out the working party's conclusions.

In this report, the Committee has been considering the relationship between tax and accounting measures of business income. Increasingly, the courts have been prepared to accept the use of accounting standards without an overlay of specific tax rules. Year by year more legislation draws upon accounting principles and practices to define the business tax base. Where could might or should this growing relationship between tax and accounting lead? The recent developments raise fundamental questions about the appropriateness of linking the business tax system to an evolving accounting process. For example, are current accounting principles and practices consistent with the requirements of the tax system? Does the current direction of accounting evolution support the closer alignment of tax and accounting measures of business income? Will closer alignment inhibit agreement on accounting standards that would otherwise improve financial reporting?

In this report, the Committee considers the issue of tax equity between the employed and self-employed. This complex topic raises many questions, one of which relates to the way in which the tax system classifies workers. Do changing work patterns indicate the need for a new approach to classification for tax purposes? Is the case law that currently governs the area sufficiently robust and clear, especially in the light of the new burden placed upon it by the so-called IR35 legislation on personal service companies? What is the relation between classification of workers for taxation and their classification in other areas of law, particularly employment law? These are some of the issues addressed in this paper.

In this report, the Committee presents its recommendations for the creation of a unified tax tribunals system to cover all taxes. It does so against the background of the comments that it received on its first Report, which are extensively summarised in the Appendix. The Committee urges the Lord Chancellor's Department to act upon its recommendations and implement the proposed new tribunal system by 2002.

In this report the Tax Law Review Committee responds to the Inland Revenue's proposals. It concludes that the proposals fail to secure the objectives of the Committee's previous Report. Furthermore, the proposed rule places no significant burden on the Revenue to justify its use, fails to secure a proper balance of interests between Revenue and taxpayers and would be intrusive on ordinary commercial and private transactions.

This report addresses whether current UK methods of dealing with avoidance are adequate and satisfactory and what, if any, other measures might be taken. Should current judicial anti-avoidance doctrines be allowed to develop or should Parliament take the initiative with a general anti-avoidance rule?

Recommendations for the way Parliament handles Tax Simplification Bills are made in this report by a working party of the Tax Law Review Committee.

In this report the Tax Law Review Committee advocates a number of proposals for the thorough overhaul of the tax appeals system. The UK does not have a single system of tax appeals but a number of systems, the details of which differ according to the tax and there is a maze of provisions that can baffle taxpayers and practitioners alike which can affect access to the system and the cost of tax appeals.

The main conclusions of this report are that tax legislation should be written in plain English, that the Government should publish explanatory memoranda with all Finance Bills, that the project already announced by the Government, to rewrite existing tax legislation in plain English should go ahead as long as it produces worthwhile improvements in understanding, and that in the longer term, primary tax legislation should be drafted in terms of general principles.

This report of the 1993 IFS Residential Conference considers the administrative issues that face the tax system in the 1990s. Speakers dealt with the implications of the move to self-assessment, the adoption of a rulings procedure, tax appeals and general anti-avoidance rules. International aspects of tax administration and compliance were also considered.

There has been much debate about legislative complexity and many people believe the situation is now so bad that something must be done - we cannot go on as we are. This report examines the scope for purposive legislation and clearer language and asks whether we need to rewrite our tax laws from scratch.

This commentary represents an initial response to the issues raised by the Ruding Committee and the recommendations made.