Abstract
The 2010 UK coalition government set itself four priorities for tax policymaking: to make the UK tax system more competitive, simpler, greener and fairer. This study uses data from tax information and impact notes, a new application of impact assessment methodology, to assess progress towards these goals. Findings show in 2010–2013 a third of tax changes did not contribute to any of the goals, a quarter related to fairness and a fifth to simplification. Whilst competitiveness was poorly served in number of measures, it was significant in terms of tax foregone as a result, and external assessments of UK competitiveness mean it could be argued the objective has been achieved. Green measures were fewer than 7% of any fiscal event and the green objective has been quietly dropped. The article goes on to examine the differing understanding of tax objectives between tax professionals and the wider public and argues that othering non-professionals as ‘tax prats’ should cease in favour of inclusion of ‘citizen stakeholders’.
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