The Institute of Economic Affairs is publishing a study on the burden of tax compliance and administration in the UK.
This monograph shows the severely regressive nature of the costs of complying with the UK tax system – small firms suffer far more than large firms from the imposition of government bureaucracy related to tax collection.
The costs of complying with the tax system are higher in the UK than in many other countries. For example, there are 8,300 pages of primary tax legislation in Britain, compared with 1,700 in Germany and 1,300 in France. The authors propose ways of reducing the burden of tax bureaucracy. These include radical reforms, not just to the administration of the tax system, but also to the nature of the system itself.
