The Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) has published a focus paper on the issue of tax complexity, updating aspects of its previous work on the topic and aiming to draw attention to the work that it has been doing since it was established in 2010. It has also revisited its older papers, some of which have been updated.

The paper summarises and reviews five topics that the OTS has previously explored:

• Length of legislation: how long is the UK’s tax code really? (first published April 2012)
• Tax thresholds: how many are there and how are they operating? (first published February 2013)
• Layered legislation: could legislation be written differently? (first published September 2013)
• Definitions in tax legislation: do they simplify or do they add to complexity? (first published October 2013 with a response document published April 2014)
• How to avoid complexity in the tax system: some principles (first published June 2015)