SNEAKY government ministers faced accusations yesterday of creating dozens of new reliefs within Britain’s tax system.

MPs in the Commons public accounts committee said that despite promising to simplify the tax system, the coalition had created almost three times as many new reliefs as those it had abolished — adding to the complexity.

The coalition’s newly opened Office of Tax Simplification carried out a review of 155 reliefs in March 2011, recommending that 47 should be scrapped.

Most were abolished but have since been replaced by a staggering 134 new reliefs. 

The committee found each new tax relief — cash not exempt from taxable income — has “made the tax system more complex and provided an opportunity for avoidance and abuse.”

Committee chairwoman Margaret Hodge added it was an example of the way the “tax avoidance industry” exploited loopholes in legislation to devise and sell aggressive avoidance schemes.

“The government spends £100 billion every year on reliefs designed to encourage behavioural change, whether promoting jobs and growth or investment in the arts,” she said.

“While well-intentioned, every one of these tax reliefs creates opportunities for avoidance and evasion.”

The Treasury rejected the report and said it was “extraordinary” that the committee was criticising tax reliefs which were helping millions of families.

But GMB official and tax expert Paul Maloney told the Star: “This government is hell-bent on tax avoidance and tax evasion for their cronies.

“Any of the tax reforms it proposes are geared towards hedge funds and private equity firms not to the benefits of those who make the profits for these people.”

He said if the government were really serious about alleviating poverty all they needed to do was raise the non-taxable income threshold from £10,000 to £15,000 and introduce a new lower band tax rate for those earning between £15,000 and £20,000. He also called for an increase in the top rate of taxation to 50p in the pound.

“This would take many hard-working families out of the poverty trap. It’s that simple but there isn’t the political will to do it,” he said.