HMRC to detail its spend
HM REVENUE and Customs’ (HMRC) first annual tax summary – breaking down exactly how tax is spent by the exchequer – will become available to 24m taxpayers from today.
Some 8m taxpayers who have completed self-assessment returns will be able to access their tax summaries online, while the remaining 16m PAYE taxpayers, who received a tax coding notice from HMRC for 2013 to 2014, will receive their summaries in the post over the next seven weeks.
The concept was first announced by chancellor George Osborne in the 2012 Budget, in a bid to make tax more transparent and easier to understand.
The move was hailed as a positive move by PwC’s head of tax Kevin Nicholson, who said: “Rather than going into some nebulous pot, people can now see everything they help pay for. The research from our future of tax project shows people are more likely to accept taxes if they can see how they are spent. Some people may question the way the tax cake is sliced, but getting more people engaged in tax policy can only be a good thing.”