Political update: December 2022

CIOT President Susan Ball has written to the new Chancellor encouraging him to reconsider his predecessor’s decision to abolish the Office of Tax Simplification. Susan has also written to the new tax minister Victoria Atkins, welcoming her to her post and inviting her to meet with the Institute to discuss issues of concern, including HMRC service levels.

It has been a busy time on the parliamentary committees front, as articles elsewhere in this section indicate. Both ATT and CIOT have provided written and oral evidence to the House of Lords inquiry into draft Finance Bill 2022-23 (see report above). CIOT has been cited in questioning of HMRC officials by the Public Accounts Committee and in a report from a Scottish Parliament committee (see opposite).

Head of External Relations George Crozier has contributed an article on tax simplification to a pamphlet published by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Anti-Corruption and Responsible Tax, on ‘What is Fair and Responsible Tax?’. George also took part in a roundtable organised by the group in October on ‘Tax in the age of crises’. CIOT Director of Public Policy John Cullinane took part in a separate roundtable organised by the group on tackling aggressive tax avoidance.

LITRG has written to financial services minister Andrew Griffith suggesting improvements to the government’s proposals to make ‘top-up payments’ to low-income pension savers who currently miss out on government retirement savings incentives.