Is the OTS straying into policy making?

The Chartered Institute of Taxation and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales Tax Faculty have expressed concern that the scope of the Office of Tax Simplification’s review of capital gains tax extends beyond simplification and is moving into tax policy.

In its response to the first phase of the review the ICAEW states that the chancellor appears to be asking the OTS to make recommendations on policy areas which are outside its statutory remit and ‘are the preserve of government and parliament’.

Further some of the language in the documents is concerning. For example ‘it conflates income and capital gains referring to “income from capital gains” which suggests that the two are the same which is not the case’.

In essence the Tax Faculty considers that capital gains tax ‘largely meets the policy intent’ and the rules do not significantly distort behaviour. It...