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Significant changes for Capital Allowances in commercial property fixtures will apply from April 2012: John Lovell and Mark Hoskyns of Lovell Consulting look at the details. Introduction On 6 December 2011 draft legislation was published which includes fundamental changes to Capital Allowances. This will impact all commercial property owners. The changes will come into effect from April 2012. Two Key Changes There are two key changes outlined below which will require attention ... Continue Reading

Taxpayers who receive a late filing penalty for their 2012 tax returns should consider if they have a reasonable excuse, says Mark McLaughlin. In last week's Editorial - Reality Hits Home for Tax Return Penalties, I pointed out that HMRC were sending out 850,000 penalty notices to taxpayers whose 2011 tax returns appeared to be late. I also predicted a tidal wave of appeals against late filing penalties, on the grounds of reasonable excuse. TaxationWeb has long supported the excellent ... Continue Reading

HM Revenue & Customs has announced revised tax-free advisory fuel rates for use from 1 March. These are the rates at which employers can reimburse their employees for the fuel cost of any business mileage undertaken in, say, company cars or the rate at which employees can reimburse their employers (if the employer pays for all fuel generally) on their non-business mileage so as to avoid any private fuel benefit in kind. The new rates per mile are as follows: Engine ... Continue Reading

HMRC has significantly broadened the scope of Insolvency Practitioner services that it will now regard as being exempt,  having published its 'final' word on the Paymex Case (Paymex Limited v HMRC [2011] UKFTT 350 (TC)) in Revenue & Customs Brief 03/12 Previously, HMRC had said that the "Paymex exemption" only applied to Individual Voluntary Arrangements or IVAs and specifically that any VAT refund claims in respect of Company or Partnership Voluntary Arrangements would be rejected (see Revenue ... Continue Reading

Draft regulations on the new calculation of child maintenance based on tax data from HMRC fuel LITRG concerns about gaps in the data leading to an increase in child poverty.  Background In January 2011, the Department for Work and Pensions published a Green Paper entitled Strengthening families, promoting parental responsibility: the future of child maintenance. The LITRG response to that consultation reiterated a number of concerns the organisation had raised back in 2008 when ... Continue Reading

LITRG welcomes a recent HMRC consultation on modernising personal tax and its ideas for creating a more transparent system, provided due consideration is given to those without access to technology.  Introduction LITRG’s assessment of the HMRC proposals is that it is good to look forward and consider how technology can enhance individuals’ understanding of their taxes, so long as due consideration is given to those who might be left behind.    The consultation HMRC’s ... Continue Reading

HM Revenue & Customs has announced that it will increase the tax-free amount that employers can pay to its employees for working from home - for "reimbursing sundry household expenses" from £3 per week to £4 per week from 6 April 2012. Whilst higher amounts can be paid, this is the level which HMRC categorically states can be paid without any Income Tax or NIC cost, or any evidence/records required of the additional cost incurred by the employee.  For the announcement ... Continue Reading

Is HMRC entitled to tax earlier years as well, if it finds income not declared in a tax return? Mark McLaughlin considers some recent cases. Introduction Most tax agents involved with enquiry work will be familiar with the HMRC practice of 'spreading'. This generally occurs when there is an agreed addition to the taxpayer's income for the year of enquiry. HMRC will often seek to assess similar additions in earlier years, and sometimes to agree additions for later years as well. This ... Continue Reading

HMRC have issued a News Release pointing out that 850,000 penalty notices are being sent out to taxpayers whose 2011 tax returns appear to be late. The News Release points out that 550,000 more penalty notices were issued the same time last year. The latter statistic sounds very positive, doesn't it? However, unlike previous years, the initial £100 penalty will apply to late 2011 tax returns, even if there is no tax to pay. This is the unfortunate reality, which is about to hit home for ... Continue Reading

HMRC contested a company's claim to the Small Profits Rate because it didn't provide the information HMRC wanted - Peter Vaines looks at the Tribunal case. Any More 'Associated' Companies? The recent case of Seascope Insurance Services Limited v HMRC TC 1664 was concerned with a claim to Small Companies' Relief for corporation tax. (I know it's now called the small profits rate under section 3 CTA 2010, but that is what it was called at the time.) The issue was all to do with associated ... Continue Reading