In his recent Budget, the UK Chancellor announced his decision to abolish 43 tax reliefs.  This followed the independent Office of Tax Simplification’s (OTS) March 2011 report reviewing the number and complexity of tax reliefs in the UK tax system.  The original report identified 1,042 reliefs.

HM Treasury are now seeking additional evidence on the impacts of removing 36 of these reliefs, and comments on the transitional arrangements that might help to minimise these impacts.   The consultation can be found on the HM Treasury website and closes on 31 August 2011.

89 inheritance tax reliefs were identified in the interim report.   The consultation recommends that a full review of inheritance tax is undertaken rather than a separate review of the reliefs identified.

Tax reliefs for charities and donors were worth £3.34bn in 2010/11,according to HM Revenue & Customs.

Figures published last week show charities received £2.56bn in tax relief, up from £2.48bn 2009/10.

The figures include £1.1bn in Gift Aid, up from £1.03bn in the previous year, and £1.16bn in business rate relief, up from £1.14bn in the previous year. Reliefs for donors rose to £780m from £740m.  The largest personal reliefs were inheritance tax relief, up to £340m from £320m in the previous year, and higher-rate relief on Gift Aid, up to £350m from £330m.

VAT reliefs were estimated to be worth £200m, but this figure is rounded to the nearest £50m and has remained unchanged since 2003.  Third Sector online 5 May 2011