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Mark McLaughlin asks why the general public cannot easily access current tax legislation.

Finance Bill 2014 was published on 27 March. It is 601 pages long. There are also 408 pages of explanatory notes.

The UK already has one of the most complex tax systems in the world. The latest annual batch of legislation, when it receives Royal Assent, will only add to that complexity.

However, that is not the only problem. Taxpayers in the UK do not have free online access to the tax legislation in this country. They cannot see the rules under which they are being taxed. Their options appear to be subscribing to a paid-for legislation service; or hiring a professional adviser with access to the legislation; or possibly visiting a public library where an up-to-date paper version may hopefully be available.

There is actually a UK legislation website (http://www.legislation.gov.uk/), which is managed by the National Archives on behalf of the government. Unfortunately, the legislation on that website is not all up-to-date.

For example, the legislation website includes the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992. However, it states: "This is the original version (as it was originally enacted). This item of legislation is currently only available in its original format."

Publishing the original version of legislation which is 22 years old is at best of limited use, and at worst dangerous.

I have contacted Legislation.gov on several previous occasions. I was informed that the tax legislation on the site is to be brought up to date, but that there is no definite timescale for the completion of the project. My understanding is that this project relies on the help of volunteers from the private sector. Why should that be the case?

In my view, every taxpayer should have free online access to the most up-to-date tax law in this country. The present lack of transparency is unacceptable. The government must make the necessary resources available to ensure that the tax legislation on http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ is current, rather than relying on others to do it for them.
 
Best wishes   

Mark McLaughlin

Managing Editor