THE Government is failing to take the radical reforms needed to relieve businesses of the burdens they face from an over complex tax and payroll system, it is claimed.

The British Chambers of Commerce says ministers even ignore the advice of their own experts.

In its response to the Inland Revenue consultation "Simplifying National Insurance Contributions for Employers", the BCC is highly critical of successive governments' refusal to address merging tax and National Insurance.

This is despite the fact that the government's own Better Regulation Task Force has recommended that such a move would deliver "really big regulatory gains."

The BCC says that amalgamation of tax and NI is in the interests of both business and government.

Simplification of the system now, the BCC believes, can bring business significant productivity gains, and ease potential future moves towards employees looking after their own tax and NI affairs, or providing compensation for certain employers.

Mr Richard Bindless, Chief Executive of Bolton and Bury Chamber, said: "Our local consultation of members on this issue showed unanimous support for amalgamating tax and NI.

"If the government is serious about reducing the burden on employers, it must take bold steps towards a single regulatory framework for tax and NI.

"We will soon be participating in a national BCC campaign to press the government for radical changes, in which we will ask local businesses to send their own 'tax demands' to Chancellor Gordon Brown, ahead of, and to inform the Pre-Budget Statement."