HM Revenue and Customs
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Tax law rewrite - Fifth Bill published in draft
The Tax Law Rewrite project, which is modernising UK direct tax law so that it is clearer and easier to use, has today published a draft of its fifth Bill.
In a written statement to Parliament the Financial Secretary to the Treasury, Jane Kennedy MP, said today that:
"I am pleased to tell the House that Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs will shortly publish a draft of the Tax Law Rewrite project's fifth Bill, the Corporation Tax Bill, which is the first of two Bills which will rewrite substantially the whole of the primary legislation relating to corporation tax. This Bill will cover the basic provisions relating to the charge to corporation tax and includes the main provisions used by companies in computing their income."
The statement also says that:
* the scope of this new Bill
and the timing of consultation was agreed with the project's
Consultative and Steering Committees which together include the
main representative bodies and other interested parties;
* it benefits from a style and presentation structure that has been developed as a result of consultation over the previous rewrite Bills;
* the Bill's provisions have already benefited from extensive discussions between HM Revenue & Customs and the tax profession.
The Tax Law Rewrite project aims to rewrite the UK's primary direct tax legislation so that it is clearer and easier to use, but without changing its general effect.
The key features of the project are:
* clearer, more logical structure for tax legislation;
* use of plain language and other reader aids;
* no alteration of main tax policies;
* some minor policy changes, where these further improve the current legislation;
* full consultation with interested parties throughout the life of the project; and
* streamlined Parliamentary procedures for enacting "rewrite Bills".
Notes to editors
1. The project was established in 1996 on the basis of full consultation. Since then a number of consultation papers have been published. The project's first four Acts, the Capital Allowances Act 2001, the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003, the Income Tax (Trading and Other Income) Act 2005 and the Income Tax Act 2007 have all been well received by the tax community as a considerable and welcome improvement on the previous legislation in terms of clarity and accessibility. The project has also rewritten the PAYE Regulations in response to requests from users and representative bodies. These regulations took effect from 6 April 2004.
2. This Bill commences the rewrite of the corporation tax code. It includes:
* the basic corporation provisions including the charge to tax, accounting periods and provisions relating to company residence;
* provisions relating to trading and property income and income from other sources;
* special provisions for companies affecting the computation of income, such as those for loan relationships, derivative contracts and intangibles; and
* provisions governing particular types of expenditure, for example, expenditure on research and development and films.
3. A high level Steering Committee, chaired by The Rt Hon The Lord Newton of Braintree OBE DL, oversees the project. A Consultative Committee, consisting of representative bodies and other interested parties, also meets on a regular basis to consider issues and the draft legislation in more detail.
4. Comments on the draft Bill should be sent by 23 May 2008 to Jackie Bartlett, Tax Law Rewrite Project, HM Revenue & Customs, Room 826 Bush House, South West Wing, Strand, London, WC2B 4RD, e-mail: jackie.bartlett@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk Tel: 020 7438 7606.
5. Copies of the draft Bill, like all the Tax Law Rewrite project publications, can be obtained free of charge from Jackie Bartlett (address above).
6. HMRC has also published today a consultation stage Impact Assessment (IA) on the costs and benefits arising from the new rewrite Bill and would welcome any comments. Copies of the IA may be obtained from Jackie Bartlett, (address above).
7. Copies of all the project's publications and the IA are also available on the Internet at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/rewrite
Issued by HM Revenue & Customs Press Office
Website http://www.hmrc.gov.uk
