Inefficient, complex and frequently unfair..........

..... that is the view of our current tax system put forward in a review carried out by the Institute of Fiscal Studies.  They added that a better tax system could give a significant boost to the economy by creating hundreds of thousands of jobs and adding billions to the economy.

Following a five year investigation by some of the country’s top economists, the radical proposals include:

• Scrapping stamp duty land tax – described as the most inefficient and damaging of all taxes.  Seen to act as a disincentive to moving home, which if removed would help to free up the housing market.
• Charging VAT on all spending, removing exemptions which apply to items such as food, children’s clothes and books. 
• Making all savings income tax free provided the saving do not involve any risk.   
• Merging income tax and NIC – a move which is already being considered by the Government.
• Amending the tax system to provide more incentives for 55 to 70 year olds and parents of school age children to go to work.
• Changing inheritance tax to a system where the beneficiary would be taxed rather than the deceased’s estate. 

The review does not make any recommendation on retaining or abolishing the 50% rate of income tax or the extent to which it will raise additional revenue for the Treasury.