If software and technological advances reduce taxpayers’ understanding of how much tax they should pay and why, this could cause problems, for example, when things go wrong. The OTS’s paper explores what can be done to empower taxpayers to sufficiently understand their tax, and their obligations, while benefiting from advances in technology. The report suggests the following key points for the government to consider: • HMRC expanding the current personal tax account to deliver better targeted guidance alongside looking at automatically enrolling all taxpayers into this service • How to mitigate the risk of taxpayers losing sight of their obligations through the use of technology • Continuing to monitor private sector technological innovation with the potential to improve taxpayers’ experience of managing their tax affairs • The potential for using new technology to engage with the public more efficiently and effectively while saving resources • Monitoring the impact of the General Data Protection Regulation on taxpayer choices for security and privacy, and convenience • Active monitoring of the impact of moves towards a cashless society and risks of digital exclusion
Read the full discussion paper ‘Technology Review: a vision for tax simplicity’.
New Chair of the Office of Tax Simplification Kathryn Cearns OBE will be the new Chair of the OTS, commencing 18 March 2019, succeeding Angela Knight CBE.
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NAO Investigation into Verify 18 March 2019
An investigation into Verify, the government's identity verification platform has examined its performance, costs and benefits. Verify was intended to be largely self-funding by the end of March 2018, but low take-up means that government continues to fund it centrally. GOV.UK Verify (Verify) was intended to be a flagship digital programme to provide identity verification services for the whole of government. People sign up for Verify to prove their identities, so they can securely access online government services such as Universal Credit or to claim a tax refund. Verify uses commercial organisations to verify people’s identities. The Government Digital Service (GDS) considers it to be a strategically ambitious programme. In its 2016 business case, GDS identified the following key targets and expectations for the platform: 25 million people would use Verify by 2020, and 46 government services would be accessible through Verify by March 2018. In October 2014, GDS began public trials of Verify with a small number of government services. It has since added more government services, and 3.6 million people have been verified by February 2019. The performance of Verify has consistently been below the standards set out in each of its business cases. GDS intended that Verify would be largely self-funding by the end of March 2018, but low take-up means that government continues to fund it centrally. The Cabinet Office announced in October 2018 that government would stop funding Verify in March 2020. It has capped the amount it will spend on Verify during this time to £21.5 million. GDS has confirmed 18-month contracts with five commercial identity providers who will continue to verify people’s identities. After March 2020, GDS’s intention is for the private sector to take over responsibility for Verify.
A report from the National Audit Office (NAO) has now been published which looks at:
• how Verify was set up, what it intended to achieve and performance to date; • total costs of Verify and estimated benefits; • key decisions made during the programme, including the recent government decision to stop funding Verify; and
The Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals
Payroll: need to know
cipp.org.uk
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