The Government's decision to abolish the Office for Tax Simplification (OTS) "contained no reason", its director Bill Dodwell has told the Treasury.

Former Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng announced the closure as part of his 2022 Growth Plan, which Dodwell said Kwarteng had done "without jurisdiction".

Kwarteng closed the independent advisory body set up in 2010 to bring tax simplification into the "heart of Government", rather than maintaining a "single arms-length body which is separate from the Treasury and HMRC".

But according to Dodwell, there is "no reason" to close the OTS, and the UK will "lose a champion" for tax simplification once it is gone.

He told MPs there were several areas the office was focusing on including self-assessment, tax certainty and the pension system, while OTS chair Kathryn Cearns said she wanted to focus on digitalising the tax system.

Dodwell urged MPs to vote against the closure, saying:

"I think the Government and the country would be better off if it retains us than if it abolishes us. We are not an expensive body and we have done good work."

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has not commented on the closure plans, so the OTS is expected to close shortly after the Budget statement on 15 March.

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