Making of U.K. Tax Law

Paper Summary:

After beginning by acknowledging that complexity is a major problematic feature of modern tax legislation, this essay proposes that the issue of reducing complexity and increasing simplicity be the main benchmark against which three discussion areas - The Tax Law Rewrite Project, The Tax Structure Review Programme and Parliamentary Reform - be critically examined in order to assess the extent to which they have improved, or could potentially improve, the making of tax law.

Outline:
Abstract
The Tax Law Rewrite Project
Tax Structure Review Programme
Parliamentary Reform
Conclusion

From the Paper:

The suggestion that tax law should be 'simple and certain' is by no means a recent one; indeed it was one of Adam Smith's well known canons of taxation in his Enquiry into the Wealth of Nations of 1776 that this should be so . In spite of this, increasing complexity over the years appears to have been the norm for tax legislation. But what is it that makes it 'complex'? Adam Broke identifies it as manifesting itself as four individual factors: diversity (that the range of taxes is so broad that no one can claim to have an in depth competence with them all); volume (with the physical number of pages that make up the annual finance act growing significantly each year); drafting (with legislation being expressed in a way that is - at best - "unhelpful to the reader"); and finally, language (with the legislation being full of words that are not a part of modern ordinary vocabulary).

Sample of Sources Used:

• Beighton, L. "Simplification of Tax Legislation: How Are We Getting On?" British Tax Review (1996) 6, pp.601-608
• Broke, A. "The Tax Law Rewrite Project" Tax Adviser (December 2005) pp.20-21http://www.tax.org.uk/attach.pl/4019/4066/TA_020-021_1205.PDF (Accessed April 2006)
• Broke, A. "Simplification of Tax or I Wouldn't Start From Here" British Tax Review (2000) 1, pp.18-26
• Davidson, C. "An Update on the Work of the Tax Law Review Committee" Fiscal Studies (1996) 17(2), pp.103-110
• Howe, Lord of Aberavon "Simplicity and Stability: The Politics of Tax Policy" British Tax Review (2001) 2, pp.113-123

More papers on Making of U.K. Tax Law:

• Comparison Essay # 67537 : "U.S. and Egyptian Tax Law"
• Analytical Essay # 144786 : "U.S. and U.K. Smoking Bans"
• Case Study # 118544 : "Lager in the U.K."

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: