Claims and elections call for evidence
Detail of outcome
The OTS report on Claims & Elections will be published in autumn 2020.
Original call for evidence
Call for evidence description
Today (11 February 2020) the Office of Tax Simplification has published a call for evidence in support of its review of claims and elections, following publication of the scoping document for this review on 4 February 2020.
The OTS would welcome the opportunity to hear from those who have an interest and asks for written responses to be sent to ots@ots.gov.uk by 8 May 2020.
If you would like to meet with the OTS to discuss the review, then please contact the OTS at ots@ots.gov.uk by 24 April 2020.
Claims and elections are a long-standing feature of many UK taxes. In some cases it is unclear why there is a need to make a specific or separate claim or election in order to benefit from a relief or exemption, and this can lead to some people missing out.
The review will seek to establish the broad numbers and types of claims and elections across the main UK taxes, and then focus on a range of the claims and elections that are more significant or more frequently used by individuals, partnerships and companies.
The work will be primarily concerned with how the administration of these claims and elections may be simplified, but where relevant may also consider related policy issues.
As well as seeking views on a range of general questions, the call for evidence asks specifically about issues which may affect employee expenses, capital allowances, losses and VAT, and the role of high volume repayment agents - which specialise in making claims for specific usually low value reliefs on behalf of large numbers of individuals.
The OTS intends to publish a report on this work in autumn 2020.
Notes for editors
The OTS is the independent adviser to government on tax simplification, challenging tax complexity to help all users of the tax system; it does not implement changes - these are a matter for government and for Parliament.
The OTS works to improve the experience of all who interact with the tax system. It aims to reduce the administrative burden - which is what people encounter in practice - as well as simplifying the rules. Simplification of the technical and administrative aspects of tax are each important, both to taxpayers and HMRC.