Tax Simplification - Monster or Myth?
What is clear beyond doubt is that the UK tax system is among the most complex in the world.
It is a deterrent to businesses looking to move into Europe and a nightmare for those that have to understand and interpret it.
Legislation by cross reference and arcane English are just two of the issues that have added to the problem.
The fact that there are no deliberate gaps in our legislation where new law on the same subject can be added has made matters worse. Law covering the same area could be scattered across different Finance Acts.
While the Tax Law Re-write Committee set about redrafting the existing legislation into a more logical and easily understood format (to the dismay of us "oldies" who knew the section numbers and schedules of the old code) the Parliamentary Draftsman has continued to pile in more gobbledygook in the form of additional Finance Acts.
It seems that it is impossible to write legislation initially in a simple and understandable manner.
Perhaps this is the result of our, (some would say ludicrous), tax system where a budget in March is followed by a Finance Bill in April which has to become law by the 5th August. Is it any wonder that new legislation is often ill thought out?
In a further attempt to clean up our legislation the Office for Tax Simplification has been introduced. The intention is that a group of experts will propose cuts to the tax rules that will be enshrined in the legislation.
If other radical changes do not take place the new system, like the old, is likely to be akin to trying to bail out a row boat with a thimble while someone is filling it up with a bucket.
There will be zero prospect of success if those in charge of the bucket don't hold fire on repeated changes to the rules that require ever more legislation.
The danger is that the effort to simplify the system will become a monster absorbing ever increasing resources and that the achievement of simplification will remain an unachievable myth.
Business authors
David Bailey - Prof David Bailey, Coventry University Business School
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Stuart Pemble - Construction Lawyer, Mills & Reeve
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John Clancy - Birmingham City Councillor and director of mediafuturesalert.com and justliteracy.com
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John Samuels - Professor of Business Finance, Birmingham Business School
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Chris Tomlinson - Chris Tomlinson is the founder of social media and online PR agency Friend (frienddigital.com)
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Andrew Whitehead - Senior partner at law firm SGH Martineau, leading the firm's Energy & Climate Change practice.
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Keith Gabriel - A Birmingham-based PR Account Manager
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Beverley Nielsen - Lecturer, Design Management, at the Birmingham Institute of Art & Design, BCU
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Mike Loftus - Director of News from the Future Ltd. Writing on the trials of setting up your own business
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Richard Halstead - Midlands region director for EEF, the manufacturers organisation.
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Karl Edge - partner at KPMG in Birmingham, specialising in automotive, manufacturing and house building sectors.
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Peter Owen - Managing director for construction firm Willmott Dixon Midlands.
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Doug Mahoney - International Trade Director at UK Trade & Investment in the West Midlands.
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Dr Steven McCabe - director of research degrees for Birmingham City Business School.
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Francis Greene - Professor of Small Business and Entrepreneurship, at the University of Birmingham.
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Alan Gilmour - Director at Cogent Elliott, experienced in marketing, brand development and customer relationship management.
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