23 March 2021 marked the anniversary of the first national lockdown, and in the world of tax it was also the first ‘Tax Day’.
This saw the separation of the usual policy documents from Budget Day itself, earlier this month, and the release of over 30 tax policy updates and consultations. At Mercer & Hole, the team are reviewing in greater detail what this means for our clients and will be commenting as appropriate.
After an initial skim read through, the good news is there is little of consequence right now. The publications focus on modernising tax administration, tackling non-compliance and pockets of further tax policy. Despite media speculation about possible changes to Capital Gains Tax, there were no announcements on that, and we await the second part of the Office of Tax Simplification review of that tax. Now feels the wrong time to reform an overly complicated tax system with Brexit and the pandemic far from over.
We are pleased to see the promise of a few years of stability and certainty in the tax system with a measured look at modernising how it works as part of a wider 10-year strategy. On a positive note, this means business as usual for the foreseeable giving certainty to plan for now as far as taxes are concerned!