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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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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 for a Better Tax System

The Tax Faculty’s Ten Tenets for a Better Tax System comprise ten key characteristics against which to evaluate tax systems and tax policies. First published in October 1999, the Tenets were revised in April 2026.
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Latest on tax reform

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.
Consider treating stablecoins as money for tax purposes, says ICAEW
  • Article
  • 02 Jun 2026
ICAEW has expressed broad support for taxing returns on stablecoins as interest, and not as capital gains, in its response to the government’s call for evidence on the possible introduction of a new stablecoin tax regime.
More time needed to standardise company tax returns, says ICAEW
  • Article
  • 02 Jun 2026
ICAEW has made a number of recommendations in its response to HMRC’s consultation on modernising and standardising company tax returns, including extending the pilot phase to allow agents and companies more time to prepare.
Government should act sooner on low-value imports, says ICAEW
  • Article
  • 09 Mar 2026
Responding to the consultation on removing customs duty relief for low-value imports (LVI), ICAEW has warned that the proposed implementation date of March 2029 is too late to protect UK retailers and fully compliant overseas sellers effectively.
Visitor levy should be consistent across England, says ICAEW
  • Article
  • 18 Feb 2026
Responding to the government’s consultation on a visitor levy, ICAEW has called for a national model scheme that will ensure consistency while giving mayors in England flexibility to address local circumstances and needs.
Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism begins to take shape
  • Article
  • 12 Feb 2026
The government has published draft regulations for technical consultation setting out how the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) will work when it is introduced from 1 January 2027.
How will the new duty on electric cars work?
  • Article
  • 20 Jan 2026
From April 2028, drivers of electric and plug-in hybrid cars will pay a new levy. ICAEW’s Tax Faculty explains how it is expected to work and asks for your help in responding to the government’s consultation on the design of the levy.
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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.
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.
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.
Exclusive ICAEW’s ten tenets: why we are changing them
  • Article
  • 07 Apr 2026
ICAEW has published revised tenets for a better tax system – the first update in 26 years – to sit alongside a new framework of institutional pillars. Ed Saltmarsh walks through what has changed, what has stayed the same, and why the revisions matter.
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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 42/26 Primary Market Bulletin 63, TN619
  • Representation
  • 19 Jun 2026
  • PDF (165kb)
A representation dated 12 June 2026 to a consultation published by the Financial Conduct Authority on 27 April 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.
ICAEW REP 028/26 Third Country Auditor Registration Consultation on proposed amendments to the Financial Reporting Council's policy
  • Representation
  • 19 Jun 2026
  • PDF (246kb)
A representation dated 27 March 2026 to a consultation published by the Financial Reporting Council on 16 February 2026.
ICAEW Rep 040/26 Reporting Company Payments to Participators
  • Representation
  • 09 Jun 2026
  • PDF (333kb)
A representation dated 9 June 2026 to a consultation published by HM Revenue and Customs on 19 March 2026.
ICAEW REP 037/26 Opportunities to Extend the Notification of Uncertain Tax Treatment (UTT) Regime
  • Representation
  • 04 Jun 2026
  • PDF (468kb)
A representation dated 4 June 2026 to a consultation published by HMRC on 12 March 2026.
ICAEW REP 027/26 Draft regulations: Carbon Border Adjustment
  • Representation
  • 21 May 2026
  • PDF (165kb)
A representation dated 21 May 2026 to a consultation published by HMRC on 9 April 2026.
ICAEW REP 033/26 Taxation of Stablecoins
  • Representation
  • 06 May 2026
  • PDF (279kb)
A representation dated 6 May 2026 to a consultation published by HMRC on 26 March 2026.
ICAEW REP 029/26 Audit Scotland Code of Audit Practice
  • Representation
  • 27 Mar 2026
  • PDF (226kb)
A representation dated 27 March 2026 to a consultation published by Audit Scotland on 23 February 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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