Morning Line: 'Bonfire of the taxes' or just a fatter bill?

About time too . Trying to work through my tax calculation is annoyingly complicated and unnecessarily so too . Pages of calculations when to check the result all I need to do is work it all out on the back of an envelope .

So if it's stupidly complicated for me as an individual I cannot imagine what it's like for companies .

This is a Tory government.

The Lib. Dems. are helpless bystanders.

Make no mistake, 'simplification of taxes' is Tory speak for tax reductions for the rich and tax increases for the rest of us. The very poorest will, of course, be 'protected' provided that they can jump through all the means-tested hoops.

James O Donnell is clearly a labour party supporter. If the Tories manage to simply the tax system it is not before time. The present system was clearly designed by a labour party as one of their many work provision schemes to employ as many civil servants as possible. This also means thousands of otherwise unecessary accoutants are also employed.

Love the idea but we need to be sure it actually makes financial sense to implement them.

I liked the Latvia style of a flat rate of taxation to make collection and calculation simple but it seems as the economy has gone down hill, tax receipts have dropped off even more dramatically giving them little room to manoeuvre.

It's a great ambition and I hope they achieve. I just hope it doesn't become a Labour style bodge.

Here's a simple tax plan:

No tax on incomes up to £10,000.

10% on next £10,000

20% on next £10,000

30% on next £10,000 and so on up to

90%. No tax reliefs.

A wealth tax of 1% pa on net worth of over 1m (inc. first homes).

Local income tax of 1% in addition to council taxes..

Council tax bands revised to favour low cost homes and higher bands for more expensive houses.

Tax breaks for major foreign investors for limited periods and penalties for withdrawal of funds.

Higher VAT on luxury goods.

All corporation tax loopholes to be closed.

Capital gains tax to be levied at income tax rates, with spiral relief over 10 years.

If you wish to work abroad..no problem but your capital and other assets will remain in UK and will be taxed at UK rates, as will your worldwide income.

Too harsh? We are in an economic crises, or so we are told, and we must all make sacrifices but the less well off must be protected. As Cameron says we are all in the same boat.

I wouldn't be too cynical about this initiative, because the last Chancellor interested in tax simplification (even if he eventually screwed up in some other directions) was Nigel Lawson. Ever since then, especially under the obsessive micro-management of Gordon Brown, complexity has burgeoned in a most undesirable way.

So, all in all, more power to the elbow of the proposed Office.

Tax simplification can too easily result in unfairness. The reliefs are usually there for a reason and removing them often means that the burden of tax falls on those who can least afford it. Is this an exercise that will benefit the rich at the expense of the poorer sections of society? That said, no one can argue against simplificaton. It's an admirable idea. But beware, the tax rules for pensions were simplified. This resulted in unforeseen problems in application and unworkable rules for some and it has even been said to be just as complicated as the previous system. A tax simplification exercise needs extreme care and much consideration of consequences. It cannot be rushed.