The Office of Tax Simplification will be shut down, Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng announced today as part of the government’s mini-Budget.
The Chancellor said the body would be abolished to boost economic growth and simplify the tax system.
Set up in 2010 to identify areas where complexities in the tax system for businesses and individual taxpayers can be reduced, the body is an independent office of HM Treasury.
It was put on a statutory footing by the Finance Act in 2016.
Kwarteng said: "I’m hugely grateful to the Office of Tax Simplification for everything they have achieved since 2010.
"But instead of a single arms-length body which is separate from the Treasury and HMRC, we need to embed tax simplification into the heart of government."
He plans to mandate HM Treasury and HM Revenue & Customs to focus on simplifying the tax code instead.
The move comes with a slew of other tax reforms, including reduction on stamp duty and confirmation that the corporation tax rate will not be increased.
Previously, the OTS urged the government to overhaul capital gains tax and had explored changing the end of the UK tax year to bring it in line with the US, France and Germany.
jane.matthews@ft.com
