The Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) have published terms of reference for their reviews ‘Stamp duty: review of remaining paper duty on shares etc.’ and ‘VAT General Simplification Review’.
It was announced at the Autumn Statement that the OTS would carry out a review of stamp duty on paper transactions and simplification of the VAT system.
The terms of reference provide more details on the scope of these reviews.
The stamp duty review is fairly limited:
- It will focus on simplification of the process, including the need to physically stamp documents.
- It will not cover SDLT or stamp duty reserve tax.
The VAT review is much wider ranging, and will look at:
- The registration threshold
- The classification of supplies.
- Rulings around TOGC etc.
- Simplification of partial exemption, the option to tax and the Capital Goods Scheme
- Special accounting schemes
- The penalty regime and appeals process.
- Aligning VAT with other taxes as part of Making Tax Digital.
The OTS will not look at the VAT rates structure, or the potential impacts of Brexit as part of this review.
Links
Our subscriber guide: Finance Act 2016: tax update and 2016/17 rolling planner
The OTS terms of reference:
Stamp duty: review of remaining paper duty on shares etc.
VAT General Simplification Review
