Treasury Committee calls for rationale behind Office of Tax Simplification closure

Tax simplification

The chair of the Treasury Committee has written to Chancellor Jeremy Hunt urging him to explain the reasoning behind plans to abolish the Office of Tax Simplification.

In her letter, Harriet Baldwin said MPs heard from the OTS in a recent evidence hearing and its chair argued that closing the body would mean the government will lose a "champion for simplification". The OTS was first established by then chancellor George Osborne in 2010, with former chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng announcing its closure in his Mini Budget of September 2022. Hunt did not overturn this decision in his Autumn Statement in November 2022. Baldwin explained that, unless reversed, the post-Budget Finance Bill will formally disband the OTS, a move the independent body now expects....