Dear HMRC 

As the sun rises on a new decade, let's try to achieve real tax simplification during the next 10 years. Here are a few ideas to help make tax understandable for the public:

The detail behind today's speech offered a lot of new consultations and delayed implementation dates to beyond 2019, which seems to me a 'wait and see' how the Brexit negotiations go before finalising a lot of changes.

The speech itself ended with a grand finale announcing the abolition of stamp duty for first time buyers of residential property purchases up to £300k. 

Your accounts need exercising as much as you do.

This starts with putting in quality figures fit for purpose. And ends with the ability to work the figures so they demonstrate and clarify things for you, helping you make better decisions. 

With many changes announced even before this Wednesday's Budget, it's worth checking through these five items in case you want to take action before the end of the month/5 April: