PM RULES OUT TAX PLEDGES BUT SAYS HE IS 'LOW-TAX' CONSERVATIVE

David Cameron has refused to rule out tax rises after the next election, but said his goal is to "give people back some of their hard earned money" as the economy improves.

But speaking last month, the chancellor George Osborne said tax rises "were not required" to achieve future borrowing targets and they could be met solely by further cuts in spending

Full story http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-23395146

NEWSLETTER 70

Headlines from our latest newsletter.  Please click on any of the links below for more information :

NON STATUTORY EXPENSES

HMRC have introduced an optional system of ‘simpler income tax for smaller businesses’ which takes effect from April 2013 for smaller unincorporated businesses.

GIFT AID SMALL DONATIONS SCHEME

HMRC have published detailed guidance for charities and community amateur sports clubs (CASCs) on the new Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme (GASDS).

GOVERNMENT PUBLISHES 'SUPPORTING AUTOMATIC ENROLMENT'

Under Pensions Auto Enrolment employers will have to automatically enrol eligible workers in a qualifying pension scheme and make pension contributions for those employees.

SINGLE COMPLIANCE PROCESS

HMRC have been trialling a new approach to enquiries, known as the Single Compliance Process (SCP).

TAX RETURN AMNESTY

HMRC have launched a tax return ‘amnesty’ for those individuals who have been issued with a self assessment tax return or notice to complete a tax return for any year up to 2011/12 and have not completed the return(s).

EMPLOYEE SHARE OWNERSHIP

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has published some useful guidance on employee share ownership following the Nuttall review.

REAL TIME INFORMATION AND ANNUAL SCHEMES

HMRC have received a number of requests since April 2013 from employers, asking for the status of their PAYE schemes to be changed to ‘annual’ which is only an option where employees are only paid once a year.

HMRC ANNOUNCE LATEST TASKFORCES

The latest targets in HMRC’s sights are tax dodger’s involved in:

• the holiday industry in Blackpool, Lake District, North Wales, Devon
   and Cornwall
• restaurants in Yorkshire and Humber
• road hauliers in the Midlands and
• the fishing industry in Scotland.

NEWSLETTER 69

Headlines from our latest newsletter.  Please click on any of the links below for more information:

REAL TIME INFORMATION AND PAYING HMRC

HMRC are reminding employers that they need to pay their PAYE liabilities ‘on time and in full’ although they are mindful that employers are still getting used to reporting under RTI.

ADVISORY FUEL RATES FOR COMPANY CARS

New company car advisory fuel rates have been published to take effect from 1 June 2013.

HMRC GUIDANCE FOR CHARITY SHOPS

HMRC have published new detailed guidance on claiming Gift Aid when goods are sold by, and the proceeds gifted to, charity shops.

HMRC ANNOUNCE EXTENSION TO RELAXATION ON RTI

HMRC have announced that they will extend the temporary relaxation of the new reporting rules for businesses with fewer than 50 employees from October 2013 until April 2014 and that this relaxation will come to an end at this point.

LATEST EMPLOYMENT AND PAY STATISTICS

The Office for National Statistics has announced the latest official labour market statistics.

NEW 0300 HELPLINE NUMBERS

HMRC have introduced new phone numbers for VAT, National Insurance, income tax and self assessment.

DOWNLOAD BASIC PAYE TOOLS

HMRC have updated their Basic PAYE Tools which is a software package designed to help those employers operating their own payroll.

NEWSLETTER 68

Headlines from our latest newsletter.  Please click on any of the links below for more information :

RETENTION OF TITLE

We have been contacted recently by several clients who have encountered problems regarding this subject, particularly when a customer becomes insolvent and wants their goods back.
   
RTI ANNUAL SCHEMES AND GUIDANCE ON PAYMENT DATE

HMRC have issued guidance on RTI and annual schemes, including clarification of the requirements and operating annual PAYE schemes in real time.      

STATUTORY RESIDENCE INDICATOR

From 6 April 2013 the rules that determine whether an individual is resident in the UK for tax purposes have changed. These rules are known as the Statutory Residence Test (SRT).      

HMRC GATHER EXTRA £220M FROM HIGH NET WORTH INDIVIDUALS

HMRC have announced that their High Net Worth Unit, which deals with the tax affairs of 5,800 people with assets in excess of £20m, increased its yield from tax enquiries by 10% in 2012/13 to £220m.      

NEW EMPLOYEE SHAREHOLDER STATUS FINALLY LAW

After much debate the Growth and Infrastructure Act is now law.      

THE QUEEN HAS ANNOUNCED THE LEGISLATIVE PROGRAMME

The Queen's Speech set out the government's legislative programme for the 2013/14 Parliamentary session including confirmation that the government plans to introduce an annual £2,000 National Insurance rebate for employers from April 2014.

TAX CREDITS RENEWALS AND SCAM EMAILS

Tax credit customers are being reminded by HMRC that they must renew claims by the 31 July deadline or their payments may stop.

EXPENSES AND BENEFITS ONLINE FORMS

The forms P11D, and where appropriate P9D, which report benefits and expenses for both employees and directors for the year ended 5 April 2013, are due for submission to HMRC by 6 July 2013.

NEWSLETTER 67

We often think that HMRC are interested only in collecting in tax due by way of cash into the Treasury. During the last month however we have seen a position emerge where HMRC are keen to deny tax relief which would otherwise have been due and would have reduced a taxpayer’s liability.

Under Self Assessment it is the responsibility of the taxpayer to notify any circumstances which could lead to additional tax becoming payable. It seems however that some taxpayers may have taken the view that as their main source of income is through PAYE and tax correctly deducted, their rental property income which results in a loss after interest and overheads does not require disclosure. They may take the view that when profits are made then they will tell HMRC. Rental losses can only be carried forward to use against rental profits but HMRC are challenging undisclosed losses from earlier years and seeking to open enquiries into all aspects of a return as a consequence.

Our advice is to disclose everything including losses on a tax return as this will potentially avoid any unnecessary investigation into tax affairs.
   
LOANS FROM A COMPANY TO SHAREHOLDERS

Draft legislation has been published which confirms an announcement made in Budget 2013 and which has effect from 20 March 2013.
 
INCREASE IN NMW RATES

The Government has announced increases in the NMW rates which will come into effect on
1 October 2013.  

HMRC LAUNCH MANAGING SERIOUS DEFAULTERS (MSD)

Following on from Managing Deliberate Defaulters (MDD) programme, under MSD HMRC will closely monitor the tax affairs of more individuals and businesses who have deliberately evaded tax for up to five years.
 
EMPLOYER END OF YEAR FORMS

HMRC are reminding employers that in order to avoid penalties they must file the Employer Annual Return (P35 and P14s) online and on time.
 
EMPLOYMENT PARTICULARS

The government has updated the template of written employment particulars.
 
P11D DEADLINE APPROACHING

The forms P11D, and where appropriate P9D, which report employees and directors benefits and expenses for the year ended 5 April 2013, are due for submission to HMRC by 6 July 2013.
 
SCOTTISH RATE OF INCOME TAX

On 14 February 2013 Scottish and UK ministers agreed the final text of the Memorandum of Understanding between HMRC and the Scottish Government covering the Scottish rate of income tax.

DIVIDENDS VERSUS SALARY

In a long standing case which reached The Court of Appeal,
PA Holdings has conceded that dividends it paid to sections of its workforce under a contrived scheme of arrangement will now stand to be taxed as remuneration.  HMRC announced last week that
PA Holdings had decided against taking the case before the Supreme Court.


It is possible that HMRC could use the decision to challenge
dividends paid out by ordinary SME companies to their shareholders but HMRC state that this will not be their intention. They stated that the PA Holdings scheme was complex and that a deduction for Corporation Tax was being sought from both the Dividend and the remuneration and that the Court of Appeal had correctly drawn the conclusion that payments were either remuneration or dividends and that having decided that it was all remuneration then there was no way that it could attract the lower 10% rate of tax applicable to dividends.  Of course with remuneration there must be tax of at least 20% and NIC’s as well.


If HMRC do begin enquiries into dividends paid to shareholding members of staff then the correct paperwork voting the amounts etc will prove invaluable. If in doubt contact us on 024 7663 5522

NEWSLETTER 66

Headlines from our latest newsletter.  Please click on any of the links below for more information :

PERSONAL ALLOWANCE UP TO £10,000 FROM 2014/15

It has been confirmed in the Budget that the basic personal allowance will be increased from the current £8,105 to £9,440 for 2013/14

NATIONAL INSURANCE - £2,000 EMPLOYMENT ALLOWANCE

The Government will introduce an allowance of £2,000 per year for all businesses and charities to be offset against their employer Class 1 NIC liability from April 2014

NEW SCHEME FOR TAX FREE CHILDCARE

New tax incentives for childcare have been announced.   To be eligible, families will have to have all parents in work, with each earning less than £150,000 a year and not already receiving support through Tax Credits or Universal Credit

SUPPORT FOR THE HOUSING MARKET

Major reforms have been announced in Budget 2013, including over £5.4 billion of financial help

RTI ‘RELAXATION’ FOR SMALL EMPLOYERS

HMRC have announced that, for some smaller employers, they will relax the reporting requirement for RTI that payments to employees should be reported on or before the amount is paid to the employee

ADVISORY FUEL RATES FOR COMPANY CARS

Updated company car advisory fuel rates have been published which took effect from 1 March 2013

EMPLOYER END OF YEAR FORMS

HMRC are reminding employers that in order to avoid penalties they must file the Employer Annual Return (P35 and P14s) online and on time

REMINDER TO THOSE WITH CHILD BENEFIT AND HIGHER INCOMES

HMRC are reminding people with income over £60,000 whose family is still receiving Child Benefit to consider ‘opting out’ before 28 March if they wish to avoid filling in a tax return and repaying the benefit for the 2013/14 tax year

HMRC PUBLISH NAMES OF DELIBERATE DEFAULTERS

For the first time, HMRC have published a list of ‘deliberate tax defaulters’

ANOTHER HMRC DISCLOSURE FACILITY

HMRC have launched the Property Sales campaign, which is the latest in a long line of disclosure facilities