Untangling the tax spaghetti bowl: a look back at the OTS

During its 13-year existence the OTS produced more than 40 reports. The work of the OTS came to an end just before Christmas with the publication of the report on hybrid and distance working while its first report recommended the abolition of little-used tax reliefs of which 43 were abolished. Early themes included a focus on improving the reporting of employee expenses and benefits and the alignment of income tax and national insurance. None of its proposals for making inheritance tax simpler have been taken forward and there has been a general lack of agreement over the approach to capital gains tax. Perhaps the OTS idea most enthusiastically adopted by government and by HMRC is the use of the cash basis by self-employed individuals and by landlords which is now used by over one million individuals. The OTS has also published several reports on...