It’s time to scrap fiddly tax reliefs

Britain's tax code is groaning under the weight of so many tax reliefs, says Matthew Lynn. It's time we had a clear out.

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Time to ditch the tax break on helmets, Phil
(Image credit: Copyright (c) 2010 Shutterstock. No use without permission.)

The Children's Television Allowance is costing us £5m a year. The zero rate of VAT on cycle helmets is costing £45m. The £10 Christmas bonus for every pensioner is costing £15m. Last week, HMRC published a list of what it calls "minor tax reliefs", fiddly little breaks and bonuses that cost the taxpayer less than £50m. Here are a few others.

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Matthew Lynn

Matthew Lynn is a columnist for Bloomberg, and writes weekly commentary syndicated in papers such as the Daily Telegraph, Die Welt, the Sydney Morning Herald, the South China Morning Post and the Miami Herald. He is also an associate editor of Spectator Business, and a regular contributor to The Spectator. Before that, he worked for the business section of the Sunday Times for ten years. 

He has written books on finance and financial topics, including Bust: Greece, The Euro and The Sovereign Debt Crisis and The Long Depression: The Slump of 2008 to 2031. Matthew is also the author of the Death Force series of military thrillers and the founder of Lume Books, an independent publisher.