office of tax simplification Articles

The Office of Tax Simplification has become the latest in a long line of organisations to criticise the government’s new IR35 proposals, which relate to contractors in the public sector.

On 3rd March 2015 the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) issued its report headed “Employment Status Report”. The aim of the report was to tackle the complexities in deciding whether a person was employed or self-employed for tax purposes and the issues on employment rights particularly for the low paid.

The Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) was launched by the Government in July 2010.

The Office has been established to provide advice to the Chancellor on simplifying the UK tax system, with the objective of reducing compliance burdens on both businesses and individual taxpayers.

A new report has recommended that income tax and national insurance contributions (NICs) should be brought closer together in order to make a tax system that is fit for the future.

However, some fear that the exercise in simplification could lead to a system of winners and losers, with some paying more in taxes and others paying less.

One of the biggest losers under the new system is likely to be some self-employed people, who benefit under the current system of NICs.

The report from the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) lays out a seven-stage programme for bringing national insurance more in line with income tax.

The headline recommendation is for NICs to be paid on an annual, cumulative and aggregate basis, instead of the current system where NI is calculated weekly or monthly. 

Part of the HM Treasury, The Office of Tax Simplification (OTS), has launched an Employment Status Review.