Tax Law Rewrite Project

The Tax Law Rewrite Project of HM Revenue and Customs was a major effort to re-write the entire tax legislation of the United Kingdom in a format which was both more consistent and more understandable.

History

The project began in 1996. It aimed to remove archaic language and confusing terminology from tax law and to replace it with modern language and terminology.

The produced both primary and secondary legislation. In total, there were 7 acts passed based on the work of the project:

The project also led to the Income Tax (Pay as You Earn) Regulations 2003.

The project was closed in 2010, being replaced by the Office of Tax Simplification.

Scrutiny

The legislation was scrutinized by the Joint Committee on Tax Law Rewrite Bills.

References

1 2 3 Seely, Antony (21 April 2010). "Tax Law Rewrite : the final Bills" (PDF). House of Commons Library. Retrieved 27 July 2026.
↑ Harris, Peter (2022). International commercial tax. Cambridge tax law series (2nd ed.). Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-108-74513-0.
1 2 "Tax Law Rewrite draws to a close". Taxation. LexisNexis. 16 July 2009. Retrieved 27 July 2026.
↑ Edward, Troup (March 2023). "The Office of Tax Simplification: What do 12 years of the OTS tell us about the role for an independent body in tax policy making?" (PDF). Institute for Government. Retrieved 27 July 2026.
↑ "Joint Committee on Tax Law Rewrite Bills". UK Parliament. Retrieved 13 May 2020.

"HM Revenue & Customs: Tax Law Rewrite". HM Revenue and Customs. 2 February 2010. Archived from the original on 2 February 2010. Retrieved 13 May 2020.
Iposos MORI Social Research Institute (June 2011). Review of Rewritten Income Tax Leglislation (PDF) (Report). HM Revenue and Customs. Retrieved 13 May 2020.

External links

Tax Law Rewrite Project: HM Revenue and Customs

[:0-1] 1 2 3 Seely, Antony (21 April 2010). "Tax Law Rewrite : the final Bills" (PDF). House of Commons Library. Retrieved 27 July 2026.

[2] Harris, Peter (2022). International commercial tax. Cambridge tax law series (2nd ed.). Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-108-74513-0.

[:1-3] 1 2 "Tax Law Rewrite draws to a close". Taxation. LexisNexis. 16 July 2009. Retrieved 27 July 2026.

[4] Edward, Troup (March 2023). "The Office of Tax Simplification: What do 12 years of the OTS tell us about the role for an independent body in tax policy making?" (PDF). Institute for Government. Retrieved 27 July 2026.

[5] "Joint Committee on Tax Law Rewrite Bills". UK Parliament. Retrieved 13 May 2020.