Mr. Gerard Brady:

We think the Office of Tax Simplification was really useful in the UK. I was very surprised when the Conservative Government shut it down. First, it was not long running but it had received a huge amount of positive feedback from businesses and stakeholders in that it was effectively set up to think small first when it came to taxation. Having regard to all the issues we hear over and over regarding SMEs that should be using schemes designed for them but do not because they are too complicated, the office tried to figure out how to simplify the tax system and code. It focused not just on the legislation but also on the running of the system. One approach to this is giving pre-approval for research and development claims. Assuring people they will not be audited on their first few claims until they are used to dealing with all the administration involved with the research and development tax credit is another of the ways that could improve circumstances for SMEs and that would be very useful. We lobbied for the replication of the Office of Tax Simplification in Ireland. That it was shut down in the UK obviously makes it tougher to argue for now, but it worked really well. It was an independent body that was non-political inasmuch as it could be.