Tories promise tax overhaul

Thursday, 3 July 2008 12:00 AM

Changes to tax law with a technical aspect should be announced no later than the pre-budget report in the autumn, the Tories have said.

The promise is a direct response to the 10p tax rate row.

George Osborne, shadow chancellor, said: "With these changes there will be no more stealth taxes. Future governments will no longer be able to bury the bad news in the small print."

The recommendations feature in the Howe Group report into tax simplification, led by former Conservative chancellor Geoffrey Howe.

Announcing changes in advance would save any future Tory treasury from making the same mistakes as the current one, the report says.

Other proposals include an independent Office of Tax Simplification to analyse current arrangements and propose further simplifications which could be implemented.

There would also be a new taxation select committee.

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• economy
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• economy and finance
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• taxation