The Government has announced its intention to merge the Inland Revenue and HM Customs and Excise departments into a single department, to be called HM Revenue and Customs, in line with the recommendations of the O'Donnell report ('Financing Britain's future: review of the Revenue departments, Cm 6163; ISBN 0101616325) published in March 2004. The Committee's report examines the case for merger; expected costs and benefits; risks; legislation: confidentiality and powers of the new department; tax policy-making; and ministerial accountability. The Committee supports the decision in principle and looks forward to a detailed analysis of expected costs and benefits being carried out as soon as practicable, and also supports the introduction of new accountability arrangements. However, the fact that the Executive Chairman will report to three Treasury Ministers on various aspects of the new department's work appears unnecessarily cumbersome, and recommends that this should be reviewed in light of practice once the new department has been created.

Good revenue administration is a vital contributor to good government. This book examines the experience of 11 countries in integrating revenue administration to optimize effectiveness and enhance efficiency over the past three decades, either by merging tax and customs administration or unifying collection of tax and social contributions.

This book traces the growth of customs and excise, and their integral role in shaping the framework of industrial England; including state power, technical advance, and the evolution of a consumer society. Central to this structure was the development of two economies - one legal and one illicit. If there was a unique English pathway of industrialization, it was less a distinct entrepreneurial and techno-centric culture, than one predominantly defined within an institutional framework spearheaded by the excise and a wall of tariffs. This process reached its peak by the end of the 1770s. The structure then quickly started to crumble under the weight of the fiscal-military state, and Pitt's calculated policy of concentrating industrial policy around cotton, potteries, and iron - at the expense of other taxed industries. The breakthrough of the new political economy was the erosion of the illicit economy; the smugglers' free trade now became the state's most powerful weapon in the war against non-legal trade. If at the beginning of the period covered by this book state administration was predominantly deregulated and industry regulated, by the close the reverse was the case.

Although most tax payments are made on time, around one-third are not. The level of debt in HM Revenue and Customs fluctuates on a daily basis. The difference is mainly because these systems exclude some debt that is due but is paid almost immediately and there are timing differences in when debt is downloaded from the main tax systems. This report analyses trends in debt levels using figures from the debt management systems. It examines: The Department's performance in managing debt; how the Department manages and prioritises debts; the Department's methods for collecting debt and how it encourages taxpayers to pay on time. It finds that though the Department has improved its management of tax debt, over the last year debt as a proportion of net receipts and the age of debt has increased on some taxes.

This report is the ninth edition of the OECD's Tax Administration Series. It provides internationally comparative data on aspects of tax systems and their administration in 59 advanced and emerging economies.

‘The Zurich Tax Handbook should be on the bookshelf of every independent financial adviser, as well as many higher rate tax payers.’ Pensions World The Zurich Tax Handbook 2015–16 is your annual authoritative guide to the UK tax system and how it may affect you or your clients. It explains the key aspects of taxation, providing worked examples, checklists, definitions and tax-saving hints. This edition includes full information from the 2014 Autumn Statement, the March 2015 Budget, the July 2015 Budget and the Finance Act 2015. Key features include: A digest at the beginning of the book which summarises the main tax changes for 2015–16 Over 120 key ‘tax notes’ to help save you money Detailed advice on how to reduce tax liabilities for yourself and your clients Comprehensive information on tax allowances and thresholds Guidance on how to complete tax returns on time and without penalties Gerald A. Mowles is the founder of BBL (UK) Services LLP – London. He is a US and UK tax accountant with over two decades of experience in dealing with high net worth individuals and their tax affairs. Tony Foreman is an Associate with BBL. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Taxation and has specialised in tax planning since 1975.