Budget 2021 set out the steps which the government is taking to assist the UK’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, while continuing to support people and businesses, lives and livelihoods.
But HM Treasury and HMRC continue to lay the foundations for the longer term. Accordingly, this command paper and its accompanying documents are designed to enhance the stability and effectiveness of the UK tax system, by outlining a future pathway for its tax administration and tax policy development.
In July 2020, the government announced its 10-year tax administration strategy, through the publication of ‘Building a trusted, modern tax administration system’. This set out a strategy to improve the resilience and effectiveness of the UK’s tax administration system over the next decade, keeping pace with rapid social, economic and technological change.
These improvements will underpin a trusted and modern tax system, which works closer to real time. Such a system will enable people and businesses to pay the right tax with ease. It will be more adaptable and responsive to the economy, and it will help to deliver more sustainable public finances, by reducing the tax gap.
At present the tax gap stands at a record low of 4.7%. But there is scope to reduce it still further, for example by removing sources of error, and by more work to tackle tax avoidance, evasion and other forms of non-compliance.
Source gov.uk
