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Tories to unveil latest tax plans Tory pledge to end tax surprises
(about 5 hours later)
The Conservatives are due to unveil proposals on taxation, designed to simplify the system and bring an end to so-called stealth taxes. Major tax changes should be unveiled six months before the Budget and be more heavily scrutinised, the Conservatives say in a report.
The plans have been drawn up by the former Chancellor Lord Howe. Ideas to simplify the system and end "stealth taxes" have been drawn up by ex-chancellor Lord Howe.
He will say that to avoid embarrassment over tax policy created in a hurry, any technical changes should be made public at least six months before a budget. The proposals are not official party policy, but shadow chancellor George Osborne is expected to back them later.
An all-party committee of MPs and peers would also examine government plans to raise revenues. Lord Howe told the BBC the delay would avoid problems such as those created by the "10% tax debacle".
Other ideas contained in Lord Howe's report include an Office of Tax Simplification to examine the tax coding system. The 10p tax rate was abolished by Gordon Brown last year in his final Budget as chancellor, in an unexpected announcement at the end of his speech.
Under the plans, changes to tax law with technical content would be made public no later than the Pre-Budget Report so that they can be properly examined before the actual Budget. At the same time, he unveiled a cut in the basic rate of income tax from 22p to 20p.
Recent government proposals to alter capital gains tax and impose a charge on people with non-domicile status would have been covered by such a rule. 'A mess'
But the move backfired when it came into effect as millions of low paid workers were left out of pocket, sparking a backbench Labour rebellion and a government U-turn.
Last week a report on the abolition of the 10p rate - and the £2.7bn package brought in to compensate many of those who lost out - raised doubts about the "perceived benefit of seeming to pull rabbits from the hat" at Budget time.
Lord Howe told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: " A lot of changes being introduced at the last minute and then turning out to be a mess."
"We simply cannot go on multiplying the tax law on our statute book Lord Howe Cameron's Britain: Tax and spend
He added: "What we are proposing is that any significant tax change that is proposed should be proposed in a form that Parliament can examine at the time of the pre-Budget report, that's six months before the Finance Bill actually reaches the House."
His report calls for a cross-party committee of MPs and peers to be set up specifically to examine tax policy, which he said was currently "under-scrutinised".
It would also examine proposals from a new Office of Tax Simplification, charged with coming up with ways of simplifying the whole system.
Small print
Lord Howe said tax had become much more complicated under Labour and he said the Tories would end "stealth taxes" - an example of which, he said, was Mr Brown's "raid on pension funds" in the 1990s.
"We simply cannot go on multiplying the tax law on our statute book, we have got to begin clearing the undergrowth," he said.
Shadow chancellor George Osborne said the Tories would make taxes "simpler and more transparent".Shadow chancellor George Osborne said the Tories would make taxes "simpler and more transparent".
He said: "Ten years of Gordon Brown's stealth taxes have destroyed people's trust in the system and given us the most complicated tax regime in the world... "With these changes suggested by the former Chancellor of the Exchequer, Geoffrey Howe, there will be no more stealth taxes," said Mr Osborne.
"With these changes suggested by the former Chancellor of the Exchequer, Geoffrey Howe, there will be no more stealth taxes.
"Future governments will no longer be able to bury the bad news in the small print.""Future governments will no longer be able to bury the bad news in the small print."
BBC political correspondent Laura Kuenssberg said the party had been making noises about a desire to cut and simplify tax but the announcement will provide the first details of the plans.
The ideas are not official policy yet, but give a clear indication of what may feature in a future Conservative election manifesto.The ideas are not official policy yet, but give a clear indication of what may feature in a future Conservative election manifesto.