NEWS & VIEWS
Last week, the Treasury announced that it intends to lay a Command Paper “Tax policies and consultations (Spring 2021)” before Parliament on the 23rd March. This will contain announcements relating to tax policy and include the launch of a number of consultations. The change aims to separate consultation announcements from other statements made on Budget Day in order to give them more profile.
The planned consultations are a part of the Government’s 10-year tax administration strategy – ‘Building a trusted, modern tax administration system’. A letter to MPs announcing the change stated that “The Treasury does not have any plans at this stage to update the current tax policy making framework, but it will seek stakeholder views before deciding on whether to make permanent changes”.
A Financial Times article provides responses from tax professionals that suggest the policy consultations are likely to include capital gains and environmental levies. The long awaited final report from the Office of Tax Simplification on their CGT consultation is also due to be published after the Budget.
It is thought that the consultations announced on ‘Tax Day’ will set the agenda for the Autumn Budget and potential changes to taxation.