Accountants call for tax clarity

Several leading accountants have said that businesses in the UK need more clarity about the country's tax system.

In interviews with Accountancy Age, accountants from RSM Bentley Jennison and PricewaterhouseCoopers stressed that businesses in the UK found the current taxation regime too complex and said it would benefit from simplification.

The calls came after Lord Howe proposed that the government consider a new cross-party committee to examine the potential impact on new taxes.

Accountant Andrew Green from RSM Bentley Jennison explained to the publication: "We've got a very complex tax code and that's the biggest challenge from a taxpayer's viewpoint.

"What they really want is clarity, and it has tipped the scales for some businesses in deciding to redomicile. They need to understand their tax position."

John Whiting, taxation partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers, added that businesses looked at more than just how much money they had to pay to HM Revenue & Customs.

"It's not just 'how much tax do I pay', it's 'what about the system that surrounds it?'."

Recently, the Law Commission said that HMRC should be more accountable when it was deemed to have made errors.