The Valuation Office Agency (VOA), the arm’s-length body responsible for valuing properties for council tax and business rates, is being scrapped. It will be brought into its parent department, HMRC, by April 2026 as part of the Government's drive "to slash red tape, increase oversight and ministerial accountability and rewire Whitehall to be more productive and agile".
It was announced as one of 39 reforms published in the Government's 'Tax Update: Simplification, Administration and Reform'.
Chair of HMRC's board and Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury James Murray announced the closure, saying, "We are determined to reduce the hassle of the tax system for British businesses and taxpayers. Ending the inefficiency and duplication of a standalone VOA will help us drive change faster and improve value for money."
The VOA’s work supports the collection of over £60 billion in council tax and business rates each year, and also provides commercial property valuation services to the public sector.
Most of the VOA’s functions will be brought into HMRC by April 2026, and the move is expected to deliver between five to 10% of additional savings in VOA administrative costs by 2028-29.
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Valuation Office Agency scrapped in government drive to slash inefficiencies