20/12/2011, by Lee Sharpe, Tax news - HMRC Administration, Practice and Methods
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) recently issued a report which was scathing about HMRC's relationship with big business, its refusal to divulge information to the Committee, and lack of accountability.
Although there does appear ultimately to be some accountability: it can be no coincidence that Mr. Hartnett's retirement was announced just days beforehand. It seems that Mr. Hartnett's involvement with certain "large business settlements" will be subjected to even greater ... Continue Reading
17/12/2011, by Tax Innovations, Tax article - Business Tax
Simon Griffiths of Tax Innovations shares his experiences of HMRC enquiries into Employee Benefit Trusts and Employee Remunerated Trusts.
A number of weeks ago, HMRC made public its intention to formally progress enquiries into Employee Benefit Trusts (EBTs) and Employee Remunerated Trusts. (ERTs). Employers or companies who have established EBTs or ERTs can look forward to an open enquiry into the taxation treatment of either the contributions into - or indeed the benefit taken from ... Continue Reading
17/12/2011, by Peter Vaines, Tax article - Inheritance Tax, IHT, Trusts & Estates, Capital Taxes
Peter Vaines highlights a recent Upper Tribunal decision concerning Inheritance Tax Agricultural Property Relief.
The Upper Tribunal has now heard the appeal of HMRC in the case of HMRC v Atkinson [2011]. This
case concerned a claim for Agricultural Property Relief for a property which had been let under an agricultural tenancy to a farming partnership. Although Mr Atkinson had left the property to go into long term residential care, the First Tier Tribunal considered that the partnership ... Continue Reading
17/12/2011, by Tax Insider, Tax article - VAT & Excise Duties
Andrew Needham looks at the VAT implications of gifts by businesses at Christmas, for Tax Insider.
VAT and Christmas Gifts
Many companies give gifts to customers and even suppliers at Christmas time as a ‘thank you’ for their business during the past year, but what is the position on recovering the VAT on the purchase of the gifts?
Let’s take the example of a pharmaceutical company that wants to give its customers a case of wine worth £30 plus VAT of £6.00. ... Continue Reading
17/12/2011, by Anthony Thomas, Tax article - General
Revenue & Customs and the taxpayer is getting worse thinks Anthony Thomas, president of the Chartered Institute of Taxation.
“Trust between taxpayers and HMRC is in severe jeopardy. A department once regarded with circumspection but trusted is becoming disliked, mistrusted and feared”. These were words I used in my CIOT presidential inaugural address in May. I have no reason to believe they have any less foundation now than when I made them. In fact, I suspect the situation is ... Continue Reading
10/12/2011, by BKL, Tax article - Business Tax
BKL Tax reviews the changes for tax treatment of distributions on "winding up" a company.
Tax Concession can Reduce Tax Bill
Many readers will be familiar with Extra-Statutory Concession C16 - often referred to as the "informal liquidation" route. This provides that (provided advance assurances are given to HMRC, none of them very onerous) distributions made from a company in advance of striking-off may be treated as capital rather than income, potentially opening the door to an Entrepreneurs' ... Continue Reading
10/12/2011, by Lee Sharpe, Tax article - General
Mark McLaughlin comments on HM Revenue & Customs guidance on implied trusts.
Introduction
It is straightforward in most cases to establish an individual’s income entitlement for tax purposes. However, there are exceptions. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) recently issued new guidance in its Trusts Settlements and Estates manual on the concepts of ‘resulting trust’ and ‘constructive trust’ for Income Tax purposes. These are 'implied trusts', which are created ... Continue Reading
10/12/2011, by Lee Sharpe, Tax article - Property Taxation
Channel 4 started a campaign last week, entitled The Great British Property Scandal. Its aim was to draw attention to the fact that, whilst there are 2 million families in need of a home, there are a million empty properties in the UK - hundreds of thousands of which have lain empty for more than a year.
Although the number is large, it actually represents only a very small percentage of the UK's total housing stock. Even so, wouldn't it be great if there were some kind of government ... Continue Reading
10/12/2011, by Malcolm Finney, Tax article - Inheritance Tax, IHT, Trusts & Estates, Capital Taxes
Malcolm Finney outlines the Inheritance Tax rules for Relevant Property Trusts and Qualifying Interest in Possession trusts, in his book 'Personal Tax Planning: Principles and Practice'.
Background
Inheritance tax (IHT) applies not only to individuals but also to property held on trust. It applies when property is settled on trust and when property leaves a trust. IHT may also be levied every ten years during the life of the trust depending upon the type of trust.
FA 2006 made ... Continue Reading
08/12/2011, by Low Incomes Tax Reform Group, Tax article - General
Introduction
LITRG provides some final tax and tax credits tips and reminders for the end of the 2011 calendar year .
1. Recent developments
a. View your PAYE coding notice online
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has launched a new facility to enable self-assessment customers to view their PAYE Coding Notices online. Before you can use this service, you must have registered for HMRC Online Services and enrolled for Self Assessment Online.
Initially you will only be able ... Continue Reading
