Chancellor commission small business tax reform body

George Osborne has commissioned a new project aimed at simplifying or scrapping the complex tax laws faced by small businesses.

He has enlisted top accountants Michael Jack and John Whiting to spearhead the Office for Tax Simplification (OTS), and charged them to produce a report by the autumn detailing the reliefs, exemptions and allowances that could be streamlined.

A second report will be produced before the next Budget – likely to be in March – outlining how to address the Chancellor's desired reforms to the IR35 contractors' levy. The OTS will subsequently deconstruct the personal tax system.

David Gauke, the Exchequer Secretary, to whom the OTS will report, said it was a crucial initiative to assist the millions of families and businesses across the UK whose tax affairs became infinitely more complicated under the previous government.

"The OTS will provide important advice that will help inform us in making the right reforms to the tax system [and] pave the way to bringing more international business to the UK," he said.

"This will give our economy the boost it so urgently needs in the years ahead.”

Mr Jack and Mr Whiting will recruit full-time civil servants to run the OTS, largely drawn from the Treasury and Revenue & Customs. It is also hoped that secondments will be made from management consultancies such as KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers.