Tax Law Review Committee

Publications

Taxation of the Family
Tracey Bowler
18 Jun 2007, IFS Working Papers, DP6
This paper has been written as a review of the current tax treatment of the family in the UK.
More information

The Tax Law Review Committee: Taxation of the family
18 Jun 2007, IFS Press Releases
A TLRC discussion paper published today reviews the current tax treatment of the family in the UK.
More information

Aligning tax and accounting profits: the need to review current legislation
30 Nov 2004, IFS Working Papers, DP5
This Discussion Paper provides detailed consideration of selected existing corporate tax legislation concerning schedule A, the anti–avoidance rules for companies and the rules for group relief set out in schedule 18 TA 1988.
More information

The Tax Law Review Committee
Aligning tax and acounting profits: the need to review current legislation
26 Nov 2004, IFS Press Releases
Earlier this year the TLRC responded to the consultation by the Inland Revenue and HM Treasury on corporation tax reform including aligning the corporate tax system more closely with accounts.
More information

Tax and accounting: a response to the 2003 consultation document on corporation tax reform
01 Feb 2004, IFS Working Papers, DP4
The TLRC Committee has been considering the relationship between tax and accounting measures of business income. This paper builds on the earlier discussion paper DP2 issued in April 2002, which set out some of the general issues of principle involved in any such alignment. The government is clearly attracted to aligning the corporate tax system more closely with account, and significant legislative advances in this direction have already been achieved. As a general matter this is to be welcomed, for reasons which are examined in this paper. But an examination of the principles involved leads us to conclude that now is the time to reflect on where the limits to alignment might lie. It is with this question in mind that Graeme Macdonald and Martin have written this paper at the request of the Committee as a response to the August 2003 consultation document, Corporation Tax Reform.
More information

Response to "Civil Partnerships: A framework for the legal recognition of same-sex couples"
08 Oct 2003, Mimeos
This is a response by the Tax Law Review Committee of the Institute for Fiscal Studies to the invitation to comment on the questions raised in the consultation paper on civil partnerships.
More information

Making tax law
01 Apr 2003, IFS Working Papers, DP3
In December 2001, the TLRC established a working party under the Chairmanship of Sir Alan Budd. The Working Party’s terms of reference were “To review the institutional processes for the Parliamentary scrutiny of tax proposals and for the enactment of tax legislation and to consider whether changes to those processes would promote simplification and improve the quality of tax legislation and, if so, what the nature of those institutional changes should be.” This Reports sets out the working party’s conclusions.
More information

The taxation of business income: aligning taxable income with accounting income
01 Apr 2002, IFS Working Papers, DP2
In this report, the Committee has been considering the relationship between tax and accounting measures of business income. Increasingly, the courts have been prepared to accept the use of accounting standards without an overlay of specific tax rules. Year by year more legislation draws upon accounting principles and practices to define the business tax base. Where could might or should this growing relationship between tax and accounting lead? The recent developments raise fundamental questions about the appropriateness of linking the business tax system to an evolving accounting process. For example, are current accounting principles and practices consistent with the requirements of the tax system? Does the current direction of accounting evolution support the closer alignment of tax and accounting measures of business income? Will closer alignment inhibit agreement on accounting standards that would otherwise improve financial reporting?
More information

Employed or self-employed? Tax classification of workers and the changing labour market
Judith Freedman
01 Feb 2001, IFS Working Papers, DP1
In this report, the Committee considers the issue of tax equity between the employed and self-employed. This complex topic raises many questions, one of which relates to the way in which the tax system classifies workers. Do changing work patterns indicate the need for a new approach to classification for tax purposes? Is the case law that currently governs the area sufficiently robust and clear, especially in the light of the new burden placed upon it by the so-called ‘IR35’ legislation on personal service companies? What is the relation between classification of workers for taxation and their classification in other areas of law, particularly employment law? These are some of the issues addressed in this paper.
More information

A unified tax tribunals system
01 Oct 1999, IFS Commentaries, C079
In this report, the Committee presents its recommendations for the creation of a unified tax tribunals system to cover all taxes. It does so against the background of the comments that it received on its first Report, which are extensively summarised in the Appendix. The Committee urges the Lord Chancellor’s Department to act upon its recommendations and implement the proposed new tribunal system by 2002.
More information

A general anti-avoidance rule for direct taxes
01 Feb 1999, IFS Commentaries, C077
In this report the Tax Law Review Committee responds to the Inland Revenue’s proposals. It concludes that the proposals fail to secure the objectives of the Committee’s previous Report. Furthermore, the proposed rule places no significant burden on the Revenue to justify its use, fails to secure a proper balance of interests between Revenue and taxpayers and would be intrusive on ordinary commercial and private transactions.
More information

National Insurance contributions disputes
01 Feb 1998, IFS Commentaries, C069
More information

Tax avoidance
01 Nov 1997, IFS Commentaries, C064
This report addresses whether current UK methods of dealing with avoidance are adequate and satisfactory and what, if any, other measures might be taken. Should current judicial anti-avoidance doctrines be allowed to develop or should Parliament take the initiative with a general anti-avoidance rule?
More information

Horizontal equity and the taxation of employed and self-employed workers
Judith Freedman and Emma Chamberlain
01 Feb 1997, Journal Articles, Fiscal Studies, Vol. 18, No. 1, February 1997
The schedular system of income tax in the UK frequently comes under attack, not least in relation to the distinctions it draws between the tax treatment of the employed and the self-employed.
More information

The tax appeals system
01 Nov 1996, IFS Commentaries, C058
In this report the Tax Law Review Committee advocates a number of proposals for the thorough overhaul of the tax appeals system. The UK does not have a single system of tax appeals but a number of systems, the details of which differ according to the tax and there is a maze of provisions that can baffle taxpayers and practitioners alike which can affect access to the system and the cost of tax appeals.
More information

Parliamentary procedures for the enactment of rewritten tax law
01 Nov 1996, IFS Commentaries, C057
Recommendations for the way Parliament handles Tax Simplification Bills are made in this report by a working party of the Tax Law Review Committee.
More information

Final report on tax legislation
01 Nov 1996, IFS Commentaries, C055
The main conclusions of this report are that tax legislation should be written in plain English, that the Government should publish explanatory memoranda with all Finance Bills, that the project already announced by the Government, to rewrite existing tax legislation in plain English should go ahead as long as it produces worthwhile improvements in understanding, and that in the longer term, primary tax legislation should be drafted in terms of general principles.
More information

Tax law: rules or principles?
John Avery Jones CBE
01 Aug 1996, Journal Articles, Fiscal Studies, Vol. 17, No. 3, August 1996
This is the year of simplification of tax legislation and I should like to add my thoughts to the debate.
More information

An update on the work of the Tax Law Review Committee
Chris Davidson
01 May 1996, Journal Articles, Fiscal Studies, Vol. 17, No. 2, May 1996
This note looks at the work the Tax Law Review Committee (TLRC) has done since its inauguration in October 1994.
More information

Striking the balance: tax administration, enforcement and compliance in the 1990s
01 Mar 1996, IFS Reports, R49
This report of the 1993 IFS Residential Conference considers the administrative issues that face the tax system in the 1990s. Speakers dealt with the implications of the move to self-assessment, the adoption of a rulings procedure, tax appeals and general anti-avoidance rules. International aspects of tax administration and compliance were also considered.
More information

Tax Law Review Committee interim report on tax legislation
01 Nov 1995, IFS Commentaries, C051
There has been much debate about legislative complexity and many people believe the situation is now so bad that something must be done - we cannot go on as we are. This report examines the scope for purposive legislation and clearer language and asks whether we need to rewrite our tax laws from scratch.
More information

Budgetary reform: the impact of a December Budget on the Finance Bill and the development of tax legislation
Malcolm Gammie
01 Feb 1993, Journal Articles, Fiscal Studies, Vol. 14, No. 1, February 1993
This paper considers the Government’s proposals for reforming the budgetary process from the perspective of its impact on the Finance Bill and the development of tax legislation.
More information

Unacceptable discretion: countering tax avoidance and preserving the rights of the individual
Edward Troup
01 Nov 1992, Journal Articles, Fiscal Studies, Vol. 13, No. 4, November 1992
The need to raise taxes is central to the organisation of any civilised state.
More information

The Ruding Committee: An Initial Response
Malcolm Gammie
01 Mar 1992, IFS Commentaries, C030
This commentary represents an initial response to the issues raised by the Ruding Committee and the recommendations made.
More information

Taxation, authority and discretion
Malcolm Gammie and John Kay
01 Nov 1983, Journal Articles, Fiscal Studies, Vol. 4, No. 3, November 1983
More information