The UK government should introduce a statutory test for employment status, says the incoming president of the CIOT, Nicola Ross Martin (pictured).
She explained that determining employment status for tax is too difficult and costly, and new legislation is now needed. She said; “We have a statutory test for residence, with a system of tie breakers, and by and large that works very well, A similar approach for employment status could clear up a lot of uncertainties and reduce the administration costs for business, workers and HMRC.”
When it comes to inheritance tax Ross Martin claimed: “The tapering of business and agricultural property reliefs in particular have had huge amounts of media and political attention. I get the politics and appreciate the desire to redistribute wealth, but where in these changes is the wider debate? Could the government have achieved their aims in a less contentious way if they had consulted at an earlier stage, or perhaps even considered this as part of a wider review of inheritance tax or even capital taxes as a whole?”
