Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has to simplify the tax system for small businesses and the self-employed.

At Budget 2015, the government announced that it would modernise the tax system by introducing digital tax accounts for everyone by the end of this Parliament. Self-Assessment for small businesses will operate through digital tax accounts with the UK’s five million small businesses having access to a secure digital tax account by early 2016.

The government will publish, by the end of this year, a roadmap setting out proposed changes to modernise the tax system, making it easier for all customers to manage their affairs online and pay the right tax at the right time.

The Government will also simplify the tax system specifically for the self-employed, by abolishing Class 2 National Insurance contributions (NICs) and consulting on introducing a new contributory benefit test into Class 4 NICs.