Background The Tax Law Rewrite Project
8.In December 1995 the Inland Revenue presented a report to Parliament on the scope for simplifying the United Kingdom tax system (The Path to Tax Simplification). The main recommendation was that United Kingdom direct tax legislation should be rewritten in clearer, simpler language.
9.This recommendation was welcomed, both in Parliament and in the tax community. In his November 1996 Budget statement the then Chancellor of the Exchequer (the Rt Hon Kenneth Clarke MP, QC) announced that the Inland Revenue would propose detailed arrangements for a major project to rewrite direct tax legislation in plainer language.
10.The project team was given the task of rewriting the United Kingdom’s existing primary direct tax legislation. The aim is that the rewritten legislation should use simpler language and structure than previous tax legislation. The members of the project are from different backgrounds, including Inland Revenue employees, private sector tax professionals and parliamentary counsel including (as head of the drafting team) a senior member of the Parliamentary Counsel Office.