05 06 2017

Americans For Tax Reform Backs Simple Tax Form For Seniors

Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) has urged all members of Congress to support a bill aimed at simplifying tax filing for American seniors.

The president of the taxpayer advocacy group, Grover Norquist, wrote to Congressman Bill Posey (R - FL), who is introducing the Seniors' Tax Simplification Act. The bill would create a new tax form, 1040SR, aimed at senior citizens with relatively simple tax affairs. It would include the most common types of income reported by seniors on it, such as interest, dividends, capital gains, Social Security benefits, and pension payments.

Norquist noted that a similar form already exists: form 1040EZ. However, this covers some forms of income not relevant for those who have retired.

He suggested that introducing form 1040SR could benefit some 23 million taxpayers.

Norquist said "All members of Congress should have no hesitation supporting and co-sponsoring this helpful legislation."
UK Gig Economy Review 'Dodging Tough Tax Questions'

The UK Government-commissioned independent review into employment practices needs to focus more on taxation, campaigners have said.

The Low Incomes Tax Reform Group (LITRG) said that the Taylor Review, which is intended to recommend how the Government should respond to the burgeoning "gig economy," is focusing too much on employment law and practice and not taxation.

LITRG said it is concerned that the Government may struggle to comprehend the changing nature of work or even make substantial changes to employment practices on the back of the review, without first analyzing the intertwined relationship between employment law and tax.

For example, statutory payments such as sick pay or maternity pay are often thought of as employment law "rights" but are actually dependent on whether there is a "secondary contributor" such as someone who pays employers' national insurance (NI), it noted.

"The Matthew Taylor Review should not be seen as a comprehensive review of employment practices, because its terms of reference do not include tax," said Anne Fairpo, Chair of LITRG. "In our view you cannot understand one without the other."

"We think that a comprehensive review of tax and related issues and non-standard work should be carried out as a matter of urgency and hope that such a recommendation is made by Matthew Taylor and his panel."

LITRG said it is also concerned that there are just "employed" and "self-employed" categories in taxation but three categories in employment law: "self-employed," "worker," and "employed." It said this inconsistency is one of the reasons workers miss out on their rights.

The gig economy, which, among numerous other things, covers such services as those provided by drivers through the app Uber, throws up a number of questions surrounding the liability to register for and charge value-added tax.