Following the announcement by the Chancellor of the Exchequer of his Growth Plan 2022, FDA National Officer for HM Revenue and Customs Jawad Raza has said it highlights “the huge importance of the work done by HMRC”.

The plan introduces a number of changes to both individual and business taxes, and will see the closure of the Office of Tax Simplification, with all officials in HM Treasury and HMRC mandated “to focus on simplifying the tax code”.

Raza commented that “the Office for Tax Simplification does a significant amount of work on strategic analysis and providing independent advice, and it is difficult to see how that can be replicated in HMRC simply by mandating a focus on simplification of the tax system by all officials.”

He went on to argue that, while FDA members in HMRC will already be working on the delivery of the plans, they needed assurances on levels of resource and staffing:

“FDA members in HMRC will already be setting to work to ensure the smooth delivery of the plan outlined by the Chancellor, supporting the government to deliver on its agenda as they always do. However, at a time when ministers are looking to reduce the size of the civil service by 91,000 – or up to 40% in some departments – it is only right that the government acknowledges the resource that will be required to deliver these additional functions, and provides a firm assurance on staffing levels.”