This sounds like common sense. Every Budget’s continual tinkering with every aspect of our tax system as part of supposed ‘long-term plans’ to boost growth/cut the deficit/control inflation/delete as applicable adds yet another layer of complexity to our already labyrinthine tax system, keeps accountants and financial advisers in employment and ensures that HMRC will be even less likely to answer the ‘phone within a week. The ‘Come the Revolution’ idea of sweeping it all away and getting back to something simple (King John’s knights collecting corn from the peasants?) is never simple as so many exceptions have to be made for so many special cases. So, yes, yet another committee and review body is pretty much always a waste of resources. But will things ever change? I think we all know the answer to that one.
“HMRC scraps plans to tax pensions after death”
A couple of other Statement Highlights (in my world, anyway). A welcome ‘nothing happened’ on the treatment of pensions on death. They were never going to be liable to IHT (too complicated with trusts and trust law) but there was talk of making them income-taxable on the recipients at whatever age you die.
