Budget 2021 | PwC head of tax comments on the Budget - is this the start of the simplification of the tax system?

Marissa Thomas, head of tax at PwC, comments:

“While the chancellor unleashed a sea of funding aimed particularly at the public sector, and targeted measures for people on lower incomes, as expected this was not accompanied by a tide of new taxes or tax rises. This year has already seen the announcement of significant tax increases for both people and businesses. The increase in corporation tax from 19% to 25% comes into effect in 2023 while the national Insurance will increase from 12 per cent to 13.5 per cent in 2022. And, despite not being announced at the Budget, an online sales tax is not off the table.

“Instead of tax rises, we saw tweaks to reliefs and business rates to back Government goals of innovation, investment, business recovery and tax simplification. The reform in alcohol tax, while it may seem trivial, is a positive sign of intent when it comes to simplifying what is currently an unnecessarily complicated tax system. Simplification could be one of the keys to driving economic growth and making the UK a competitive place to do business.”

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