Tax should be simple. You owe it, you pay it. Unfortunately…..

The Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) has recently lived up to its name by publishing a report on how taxes at different stages of a privately owned business’ life can be simplified. It also offers some insight into minimising the impact of changes to the tax code (and at 21,602 pages that’s pretty difficult).

Some key inefficiencies were highlighted by the OTS. Why on earth isn’t it a ‘one-stop shop’ when registering your company? If entrepreneurs could register their budding company with both entities through one portal it would greatly relieve the administration burden. Quite frankly, it just makes too much sense not to happen.

They also highlighted that some business owners would be reticent to accept equity financing, due to its effect on whether entrepreneurs’ relief could be claimed, and how the interaction of capital gains tax and inheritance tax could be simplified to help with decisions made when the facts aren’t known.

But, when it comes down to it, all they’ve said is what we’ve been saying for years. The tax code is too complicated for individuals and it’s too complicated for businesses. To engender growth the government should be looking to simplify the tax code to help businesses through the good times and the bad. Then people will start to like tax.

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