A possible overhaul of the UK taxation format could help reduce HR admin burden within companies.

The government wants to hear the views of firms before it sets the wheels in motion on making reforms that would see the income tax and National Insurance systems more closely linked.

Many firms, including those that operate various salary sacrifice schemes for their employees, may find the present arrangement time consuming and inefficient.

Income tax and National Insurance are now calculated separately, but the Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT) has long labelled the set-up as burdensome.

CIOT president Anthony Thomas has admitted he is glad the taxation framework is to be reviewed.

“The government deserves congratulations on finally grasping a nettle that successive administrations have shied away from,” he commented.

Exchequer secretary to the Treasury David Gauke hopes that any potential radical reforms would make the UK tax system the “most competitive in the G20 for business and simpler to understand for individual taxpayers”.