UK House of Lords Finance Bill Sub-Committee
Is faster tax reporting necessarily better tax compliance? That is one of the questions I raised in my written evidence to the UK House of Lords Finance Bill Sub-Committee, which I am delighted to share has now been formally accepted and published on the UK Parliament's website.
As someone whose research sits at the intersection of finance, financial technology, and behavioral decision-making, I am particularly interested in what happens when well-intentioned regulatory reforms meet the realities of business operations and human behavior.
My submission, Modernizing UK Tax Administration: Compliance, Digital Reporting and Low-Value Imports, examines three important areas of UK tax reform:
🔹 Tax compliance and behavioral responses: Can stronger penalties encourage better compliance, or might they also create uncertainty and defensive decision-making?
🔹 Real-time digital reporting: Does accelerating the flow of information actually reduce administrative costs, or simply transfer them to employers and businesses?
🔹 Low-value imports and digital platforms: Could new customs reporting requirements improve fairness while unintentionally creating additional barriers for smaller businesses?
My central argument is simple: Digitalizing tax administration should not be confused with improving it.
Technology can make reporting faster. But effective regulation also requires reliable information, proportionate compliance costs, and systems that recognize how organizations and individuals actually behave.
For me, this is precisely why academic engagement with public policy matters. Research should not end with journal publications. It should also contribute to the questions policymakers are asking and the decisions that affect businesses and society.
I am pleased to have had the opportunity to contribute to this parliamentary inquiry and look forward to following its findings.
📄 Read my published evidence on the UK Parliaments
website:https://lnkd.in/e7w-4B66
#UKParliament #PublicPolicy #TaxPolicy #FinTech #BehavioralFinance #DigitalTransformation #AcademicResearch #UniversityOfExeter
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