Every January, thousands of people sit at the kitchen table with a laptop, a handful of receipts, and a growing sense of dread. The rules feel like a maze, the forms read like another language, and the clock ticks. For families and small businesses, this stress is familiar. It steals time, saps energy, and adds risk to already busy lives.
The good news is that some visionary people have already come up with ways to make the tax system simpler, proof that it works. Sensible changes that help people pay the right amount, with less effort. A simpler tax system means more time for life and work, fewer surprises, and better cash flow.
Why England’s Tax System Feels Like a Puzzle
Tax in England is like a jigsaw with pieces from different boxes. People meet confusion at every turn: income tax bands that shift with allowances, National Insurance that looks like tax but is not, and VAT that pops up on some goods but not others. Even confident savers and shop owners stumble.
It’s what David Graeber called ‘bullshit jobs’ (made-up jobs to bring incomes to create jobs that shouldn’t really exist’. And make life so complicated that two people can earn the same salary, yet face different tax rates due to allowances, child benefits, and pension choices.
Some items carry VAT, others do not, and a few switch depending on use. Cold versus hot food etc. Also read our post on simpler alternatives to council tax.
Many Self Assessment customers say they spend between 1 and 5 hours gathering records and filing a single return, then more time if they need to call for help. For small firms handling VAT, PAYE, and year-end accounts, that time multiplies across the year. People fear mistakes, then overpay to avoid penalties, or they put off tasks and risk fines.
The Overload of Different Taxes and Rules
- Income tax and bands: Basic, higher, and additional rates, with personal allowances that taper once income rises.
- National Insurance: Paid by employees and employers, and by the self-employed in different classes. It behaves like a tax, yet follows different thresholds.
- VAT: Standard, reduced, and zero rates, plus exemptions.
Frequent Changes That Keep Everyone Guessing
Rules do not sit still. Budgets shift rates, thresholds, and reliefs. Freezes on income tax thresholds keep more pay within higher bands as wages rise.
Every change means updates to systems, staff training, and fresh reading. Solo traders must carve out time to keep up. Small employers must test payroll and invoicing tools. When the rules change often, people lose confidence and spend more time on admin.
How Complexity Hits Families and Small Businesses
The human cost shows up in ordinary days. A parent misses a child benefit claim because of taper rules tied to one partner’s income. A carer juggles part-time jobs and freelance work, then struggles to match NI records and pension contributions. A café owner spends evenings on VAT, rather than menus and suppliers.
Streamline the Tax Code with Fewer Rules
Too many bands and allowances create cliff edges. A simpler structure helps.
- Fewer bands: Merge income tax bands where possible, so people see what they owe at a glance.
- Align thresholds: Bring income tax and National Insurance thresholds closer, so payslips are easier to read. One set of numbers reduces mistakes.
- Tidy reliefs: Replace little-used allowances with a single standard deduction. This cuts complex claims.
Pros are clear: easier maths, fewer entry points for error, and less admin for HMRC. Any change should protect low earners, keep work incentives strong, and avoid sharp jumps in take-home pay. Other countries show that wider bands or a standard deduction can work.
Educate and Support Taxpayers Better
Even the best system needs clear guidance and kind support.
- Plain-English guides: Short pages with examples for common life events, like starting a side gig, taking parental leave, or renting a spare room.
- Free workshops: Local sessions in libraries and colleges, timed for evenings, with walk-throughs of Self Assessment and VAT basics.
- Tailored helplines: Regional teams trained on local industries, from hospitality to construction, so advice feels relevant.
- Community partnerships: Work with charities and councils to support immigrants, young workers, and carers who face extra hurdles.
Free and Affordable Tax Help
If you feel like the ducks above when your tax return comes round, don’t worry. There is a lot of affordable help for you out there, if you can’t afford a personal tax consultant. One of the best ways to get tax help without spending a penny is through free tax preparation services.
TaxAid offers a free helpline to help with problems, if you are on a low income. Just call during office hours on weekdays. There is also a helpline for voluntary advisors, to get help for clients. The service is for people on less than £20,000 a year, to ensure you are only paying the right amount.
Tax Help for Older People also offers free help, this time for people over 60 on incomes of less than £20,000 a year. It has over 420 volunteers and a national call centre, and can also help you to pay less tax, if you are on a pension. You can call them, or use their web enquiry form.
Contact the government website to check your tax code.
Low-Cost Paid Services
If you don’t qualify for free help, Tax Scouts offers affordable low-cost help to do tax returns on your behalf. It offers three services (depending on type of company – dormant, active or VAT-registered).
And you are then directed to one of their accredited accountants, to file your tax return to HMRC in 48 hours. You can also use their fixed fee service to sort out tax problems. The site also offers free simple book-keeping tools.
Should People Pay Higher Rates of Tax?
Finnish grizzly bear! (Melanie Mikecz)
Interestingly, Finland (one of the world’s happiest countries) pays the world’s highest rate of income tax, at 57.3% (but unlike here, they trust their government to use the money wisely). Fellow happy Scandinavians in Denmark and Sweden also pay high rates of tax.
This is because all three countries tend to protect all people from cradle to grave (there is almost zero homelessness in Finland, due to a non-profit housing landlord). Other benefits in Scandinavian high-taxed countries include universal health care, higher education, good parental leave, child and elder care. In other words, high taxes are spent well, to protect all of society. So people don’t mind paying them.
Is Paying a Simple Flat Tax Better?
Some suggest a “flat tax” as a way to stop evasion: everyone pays the same rate no matter what they earn. Supporters say this would make the system easier to understand and harder to cheat, as there are fewer loopholes.
But critics warn it would mean less help for those on low wages and could shift the tax burden without fixing deeper problems. For many, the answer is better guidance and closing loopholes, not flattening rates. Either way, paying what you owe is a simple way to support your local hospital, school, or care home.
Estonia pays a flat rate tax of 20%, and is a highly-developed country with beautiful forests and the world’s 12th best standard of living (safe, good public transport, low pollution and excellent healthcare and broadband). The cost of living is also lower than most western European countries.
Campaigns to Change Monarchy Laws
It’s a barmy country where people have to pay high beer tax (which makes it difficult for independent pubs to survive). Yet Tax Justice writes that presently the Duchy of Cornwall (which includes the Scilly Isles and the Oval Cricket Ground) is not charged corporation tax, although the Prince voluntarily pays income tax.
The same organisation wants the monarchy to also pay Inheritance Tax. It presently pays none, despite being one of the richest families in the world. This money could then be used to fund our NHS and invest in walkable communities and environmental causes, more schools and other public projects. For everyone else, it pays also to make a simple legally-binding Will.
How Tax Evasion Harms England
The media and politicians are always on about benefit cheats. But in fact, many vulnerable people should claim benefits, and there is far more money ‘lost in the system’ from tax evasion. Big companies often employ tax companies and lawyers to get out of paying tax (so for instance, benefit from the NHS but contribute nothing towards it).
When high earners move income or assets into low tax zones, home countries collect less. The Tax Justice Network estimates governments lose hundreds of billions each year to tax abuse worldwide.
