Blog: ‘Idiots and lunatics’ to be removed from tax regs

When there is a flurry of tax reform, as there has been in the past year, some things tend to get lost in all the activity. This little gem had almost escaped notice.

Her Majesty's Revenue and Customers (HMRC) is set to remove the words "idiot", "lunatic" and "insane person" from its regulations as they are seen as outdated and more than a little offensive.

HMRC being HMRC, it had to consult publicly on the issue, rather than simply editing the wording appropriately.

In the consultation launched this week, the Revenue asked for feedback on redefining the term "incapacitated person", which is a person deemed unable to deal with their own tax affairs and excused from the duty to report to HMRC.

Incapacitated persons, such as children or people with mental health conditions, are able to pass the responsibility for their tax affairs on to a guardian.

HMRC said: "Both HMRC and the Exchequer Secretary consider this wording to be inappropriate for usage in ordinary language today.

"Over time, their use in day-to-day language has become increasingly offensive."

The term "idiot" has been on the statute books since at least 1324, whilst "lunatic" appears first in 1524.

The words were included in this definition in 1952. So, it is reasonable to say the terminology change, though not as important as, say, reforming pensions tax relief, is not before time.

One thing this little episode shows is the complexity of our tax structure. In some documents, words like "idiots" and "lunatics" would stand out like a sore thumb.

However, in our myriad of tax regulation, which is now one of the longest sets of regulations in the world, they get lost. We can only hope the current spate of reform will help to change that, rather than adding to the bulging code books.