In a new report, the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) takes a strategic look at the general approach to providing guidance for taxpayers. Although guidance has featured in many previous OTS reports on particular parts of the tax system, this is the first time the OTS has devoted an entire report to this important area.

The report calls for HMRC to make transforming the user experience a sustained priority, building on its current programme of work in this area, giving greater emphasis to meeting the needs of taxpayers, making it easier for people to find the guidance they need and to be clearer what reliance they can place on it.

Recommendations:

1. A New Model for guidance should be adopted, building upon the current innovative programme that uses new ways of delivery, moving the emphasis to the taxpayer’s needs, away from the needs of HMRC officers.
2. HMRC should have a senior Strategic Head of Guidance, with remodelling guidance as a key departmental priority in HMRC’s operating plan.
3. HMRC should form an ‘advice and guidance panel’ to advise and support HMRC in this endeavour. The panel could consist of senior HMRC officers, respected tax specialists and academics.
4. HMRC should set a strategy of clearly identifying three levels of guidance so that users can immediately see the level of complexity of the material they are about to read.
   • Level 1: simple guidance, for the majority of individual taxpayers
   • Level 2: more advanced guidance, primarily aimed at more sophisticated taxpayers and others in business
   • Level 3: HMRC’s technical manuals, primarily for tax advisers
5. More work should be done on using technology to direct people to enter the guidance at a point appropriate to their needs and level of understanding of tax.
6. HMRC and the Government Digital Service (GDS) should produce a clearer statement of their respective responsibilities. GDS-managed guidance should have more links to HMRC’s more comprehensive guidance.
7. The GDS team should reassess its approach to publishing HMRC technical manuals.
8. Sections in manuals should be annotated swiftly to record that changes will be needed to reflect amended law, or the results of a tax case.
9. HMRC should introduce more feedback links into the technical manuals. These should be accompanied by dating each page (or paragraph number) and ensuring that HMRC contacts for each manual are kept up to date. Technology should be used to improve links between specific parts of manuals and HMRC’s other guidance material.
10. HMRC should discuss and agree protocols with industry and representative bodies where these bodies are supportive of contributing to guidance, building on existing good practice.
11. HMRC should undertake a consultation on the circumstances in which a taxpayer can rely on published guidance and the extent to which a taxpayer will be subject to interest, penalties and the tax in dispute where guidance is found to be incorrect.
12. HMRC should be clearer when its guidance is knowingly giving a statement of HMRC’s opinion rather than something it considers to be generally accepted.