CIOT STATEMENT REGARDING THE RESIGNATION OF PAUL GRAY

“The Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT) is naturally deeply concerned about the implications of the Chancellor’s statement this afternoon regarding the security breach of child benefit information.

The security of tax data is a vital cornerstone of the UK’s tax system. Any breach has to be taken very seriously and it is clearly right that there should be an independent review. The CIOT will be ready to cooperate with this.

The CIOT has long argued that the tax system has become so complex that it cannot run efficiently. Faced with such a complicated system a merger between two large government departments into HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) was bound to produce difficulty. The CIOT has advocated simplifying the tax system before carrying out any systemic changes, and in the context of a merger of this size, time for it to bed down was always going to be necessary.

We wish to place on record our appreciation of the work that Paul Gray carried out as chairman of HMRC. We have always found him to be very keen to engage with the CIOT and other professional bodies and to benefit from the experience that our members had in dealing with the tax system. We look forward to working in a similar way with his successor. He or she will have a huge challenge to manage a tax system that is too complex and which is subject to over-frequent change, whilst at the same time providing leadership and building morale at HMRC.”