Tax simplification: HMRC’s revised approach

Simplifying tax administration is vital if HMRC are to make it easier for people to pay their taxes. Over the last 12 months, HMRC has been working with policy colleagues in the Treasury to ensure new policy and services are as easy as possible for taxpayers to understand and use. Simplicity is now being considered from the very start of the tax design process in a much more explicit way than before, and checkpoints have been added to the process for senior officials to review new policies from a simplification perspective. Progress to date includes the simplification announcements made at the Spring Budget and enhancements to digital services to improve taxpayer engagement. HMRC is also using data and customer insight to look at opportunities to further simplify existing rules and processes, but the department also wants to listen directly to taxpayers and their representatives.