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Tax reform

ICAEW’s Tax Faculty draws on its members’ expertise to examine hot topics in tax and provide practical solutions to challenges faced by policymakers and regulators. This is underpinned by the faculty’s Ten Tenets for a Better Tax System that set out the characteristics against which it evaluates tax systems and tax policies.

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Graphical illustration of the five institutional pillars ICAEW has identified as being crucial to reforming UK tax system: policymakers, administration, digital infrastructure, tax professional and judiciary.
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Thought leadership

How to build a better tax system

The Tax Faculty is looking what is needed to deliver a better tax system in the UK. Thought leadership on five key areas will be published in 2026.
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Updated for 2026

Ten Tenets of Tax

The Tax Faculty’s Ten Tenets for a Better Tax System comprise key characteristics against which to evaluate tax systems and tax policies.
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Latest on tax reform

Changes proposed to the VAT rules for online marketplaces
  • Article
  • 21 Aug 2026
ICAEW has questioned whether the government’s proposals, as set out in a consultation document published in June 2026, would effectively address VAT non-compliance on online marketplaces, and suggests an alternative solution.
ICAEW supports new VAT relief for social housing
  • Article
  • 20 Aug 2026
The introduction of a new, targeted VAT relief would reduce costs and help avoid delays in building new social housing, says ICAEW in its response to the government’s consultation.
ICAEW cautions against mandating direct debits for VAT and PAYE
  • Article
  • 17 Aug 2026
Requiring payment of VAT and pay as you earn (PAYE) by direct debit is not a suitable measure to tackle late payment and tax debt, says ICAEW in its response to the government’s consultation.
Significant concerns raised over plans for earlier payment of income tax
  • Article
  • 11 Aug 2026
In its response to the government’s consultation on more timely payment of income tax self assessment (ITSA), ICAEW has warned that the policy may overburden employers and cause hardship for taxpayers.
Proportionate response needed to plastic packaging tax concerns, says ICAEW
  • Article
  • 11 Aug 2026
Responding to the consultation on introducing a mandatory certification requirement for plastic packaging tax (PPT), ICAEW has encouraged the government to make better use of existing data alongside targeted compliance interventions.
Government publishes draft Finance Bill legislation
  • Article
  • 14 Jul 2026
The government has published draft legislation confirming several policy announcements made at tax update 2026 and earlier, as well as new consultations on a range of areas, including the taxation of predevelopment costs.
Significant changes announced at Tax Update 2026
  • Article
  • 24 Jun 2026
The government launched a raft of consultations on 23 June 2026, including proposals to allow HMRC to recover low-value tax debts by deducting instalment payments directly from the taxpayer’s bank account.
Government must do more to address tax uncertainty
  • Article
  • 09 Jun 2026
In its response to the government’s consultation on expanding the uncertain tax treatment (UTT) regime, ICAEW has called on the government to consider what it can do to address complexity and help taxpayers to meet their obligations.
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Building a better tax system

The Tax Faculty has launched a major new programme of work looking at what the UK tax system should look like.
Independent advice needed to improve UK tax policymaking
  • Video
  • 29 Jun 2026
The UK's tax system is straining under pressures it was never designed for, and reform is politically unappealing. ICAEW’s How to Build a Better Tax System project has outlined what needs to change in how tax policy is created.
Exclusive How to reform tax policymaking in the UK
  • Article
  • 29 Jun 2026
Continuing ICAEW’s work on building a better tax system, Ed Saltmarsh explains what’s wrong with tax policymaking in the UK and suggests how meaningful change could be achieved by keeping long-term strategy, technical implementation and political decision-making separate.
Reforming UK tax policymaking
  • Thought leadership report
  • 29 Jun 2026
In the third paper on building a better tax system, ICAEW explains why the current tax policy framework is incapable of delivering meaningful reform and suggests how it can be improved.
Exclusive Why HMRC must change to succeed
  • Article
  • 01 Jun 2026
Ed Saltmarsh highlights the key points from ICAEW’s latest paper on building a better tax system, setting out why HMRC’s current transformation programme risks failure and what needs to change for it to succeed.
Transforming UK tax administration
  • Thought leadership report
  • 29 May 2026
In the second paper on building a better tax system, ICAEW sets out why HMRC’s current transformation programme risks failure and what needs to change for it to succeed.
Principles, pillars, and priorities
  • Thought leadership report
  • 07 Apr 2026
In the UK, where economic resilience, fairness, and long-term investment are critical to national priorities, the strength of the tax system has never mattered more.
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How to fix VAT

ICAEW has explored the challenges and opportunities offered in reimagining VAT and its application. Read about the history of VAT, the lessons that can be learned from outside the UK and the potential of digitalisation.
Why the UK must reform VAT
  • Article
This vital revenue stream is burdened by complexity, undermined by exemptions, and dogged by a lack of digitalisation. Post-Brexit, there is both an opportunity and an imperative for core reform.
Why previous efforts to simplify VAT have failed
  • Article
Fifty years on from its introduction, VAT is a complex tax that taxpayers struggle to understand. Despite attempts at simplification, including by the Office of Tax Simplification itself, VAT remains notoriously complicated. Experts explain why this is the case.
How to fix VAT: digitalising the system
  • Article
Digitalisation of VAT promised great rewards, but initial attempts have faltered as HMRC navigates unexpected complexities in the system and the range of taxpayers it deals with. Despite some success, more work is needed to push the changes through.
Exclusive Ideas for reforming VAT
  • Article
VAT prize-winners Sze Teen Wong, Cheryl Ong and Anna Poh point to international experiences to explain how the UK’s VAT system could be made simpler and more progressive.
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Tax representations

ICAEW Rep 55/26 CP26 20: rules for self-invested personal pensions
  • Representation
  • 19 Aug 2026
  • PDF (316kb)
A representation dated 13 August 2026 to a consultation published by the Financial Conduct Authority and Bank of England in June 2026.
ICAEW REP 054/26 Introducing a Criminal Offence for Making Reckless Untrue Statements or Declarations in Direct Tax
  • Representation
  • 13 Aug 2026
  • PDF (244kb)
A representation dated 13 August 2026 to a consultation published by HMRC on 23 June 2026.
ICAEW REP 052/26 Timely Payments in Income Tax Self Assessment (ITSA)
  • Representation
  • 03 Aug 2026
  • PDF (269kb)
A representation dated 3 August 2026 to a consultation published by HMRC on 23 June 2026.
ICAEW REP 047/26 Consultation on Reform to Taxation of UK-Resident Members of US LLCs
  • Representation
  • 29 Jul 2026
  • PDF (523kb)
A representation dated 29 July to a consultation published by HMRC on 10 June 2026.
ICAEW Rep 045/26 Call for Input: The future of tokenisation - A joint vision from the authorities for UK wholesale financial markets
  • Representation
  • 06 Jul 2026
  • PDF (571kb)
A representation dated 3 July 2026 to a consultation published by the Financial Conduct Authority and Bank of England on 18 May 2026.
ICAEW Rep 034/26 International Standard on Auditing for Less Complex Entities How to Enhance Usability : Call For Views
  • Representation
  • 06 Jul 2026
  • PDF (305kb)
A representation dated 21 May 2026 to a consultation published by the Financial Reporting Council on 26 March 2026.
ICAEW REP 043/26 Open for Business: Implementing a UK Corporate Re-domiciliation Regime
  • Representation
  • 19 Jun 2026
  • PDF (145kb)
A representation dated 19 June to a consultation published by the Department for Business and Trade on 25 March 2026.
ICAEW REP 039/26 Call for Evidence: Business Systems Integration
  • Representation
  • 19 Jun 2026
  • PDF (232kb)
A representation dated 4 June 2026 to a consultation published by HM Revenue & Customs on 12 March 2026.
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Watch a Tax Faculty webinar

Webinars and videos have been designed by the Tax Faculty to provide practical guidance to practitioners on important developments to tax practice and policy.

You can register for Tax Faculty webinars by visiting our events page.
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