In the news: September 2024

‘The tax system is not a “dumb pipe” that funnels money to the government. It is an elaborate system taking up large amounts of business time. We shouldn’t make it any more taxing than it has to be. Improving how it operates could make a significant contribution to economic growth. Politicians of all parties should put these measures at the heart of their plans.’

CIOT President Charlotte Barbour, opinion article in the Financial Times, ‘The tax system’s baffling complexity holds Britain back’, 25 June

‘We saw examples of people saying they couldn’t feed their children, they were worrying about bills and we know in 2022 research found that 9 million people in the UK had no savings, so for these people this was a significant issue.’

Victoria Todd, head of LITRG, on BBC Money Box on delayed child benefit payments, 8 June

‘It’s one thing to say you’re not going to touch the rates, but there’s so much more you can do to increase tax take. Both Labour and the Conservatives have pinned a lot of their tax revenue on the tax gap. That’s about £36 billion a year… but only £1.4 billion is actually tax avoidance. We need to get at the underlying causes.’

ATT technical officer Emma Rawson on Times Radio on tax plans ahead of the general election, 16 June

‘The Chartered Institute of Taxation has said that the tax gap – which was 4.8% of theoretical UK tax liabilities in 2022-23 – can probably be reduced, but further marginal gains will be hard to achieve.’

The Observer on the tax gap, 6 July

‘The first [way to claim compensation] is if they have suffered a financial loss because of errors HMRC has made, and the second is if they can demonstrate that they have suffered worry or distress because of this.’

Antonia Stokes, LITRG technical officer, in the Daily Telegraph on HMRC compensation, 17 July

‘We urge HMRC to be more proactive in clarifying what schemes do and do not qualify – issuing focused guidance for employers and employees before they become involved in these schemes.’

Senga Prior, ATT President, in the Daily Express on workplace nurseries, 26 July