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Jonathan Schwarz, author of 'Booth & Schwarz: Residence, Domicile and UK Taxation, looks at the factors determining the residence of a partnership for tax purposes. Introduction Residence is a personal attribute – a quality which attracts to a person by virtue of the strength of the association with a particular place or country. Partnership is the relationship which subsists between persons carrying on a business in common with a view of profit. (Partnership Act 1890 s 1) In England ... Continue Reading

James Bailey outlines the complex and wide ranging new tax rules on employment income provided through third parties and warns that even simple, common arrangements may now be caught with potentially serious tax consequences. Introduction The 2011 Finance Act contains a lengthy set of rules designed to catch “disguised remuneration”. The new rules represent another rather depressing example of how the unending struggle between tax legislation and tax avoidance tends to produce ... Continue Reading

James Bailey says HMRC is being unfair when determining whether or not a taxpayer has a reasonable excuse for being late. Introduction Everyone likes to think they are ’reasonable‘, but I suspect we all have a different idea of what ’reasonable‘ means – this is certainly the case with HM Revenue & Customs. In many situations, tax legislation prescribes penalties for those who fail to do what the law requires them to do, or who do it after the deadlines ... Continue Reading

Maths, a tax professional and one of TaxationWeb's most prolific contributors, criticises HM Revenue & Customs' editorials and for not treating all taxpayers fairly. I have now decided to stop wasting my time by no longer bothering to read any of the HMRC editorials published intermittently on the “Home” page. Why? Because they are typically full of platitudes and “PR” speak and seek continually to remind taxpayers of HMRC’s powers to levy interest and penalties ... Continue Reading

LITRG welcomes HMRC encouraging businesses to transact online. But nobody must be forced to do so, particularly those who cannot, or find it very difficult to, use the necessary technology. Introduction Ever since the Carter review in 2006, HMRC have been moving steadily towards transacting with taxpayers online. At the same time, more and more paper sources of information from the Department have been withdrawn. Those who are unable, or find it very difficult, to access the online world ... Continue Reading

The government has announced that from 1 April 2012, it will abolish the 'special VAT relief' currently available to businesses that import goods from the Channel Islands to UK customers, such as DVDs, printer ink cartridges and the like. For many years, businesses based in the Channel Islands have benefited from "Low Value Consignment Relief" ("LVCR") which meant that they didn't have to charge VAT on goods sold to mainland UK customers provided their value was less than £18.(But see below). The ... Continue Reading

Peter Vaines looks at some of the apparent inconsistencies in HMRC's treatment of payments out of insurance policies for Inheritance Tax. There has been considerable discussion lately about the exemption from IHT in respect of "gifts out of income" under IHTA 1984 s 21. This is a particularly valuable relief, not least because it is unlimited, being subject only to the requirements that the gifts must be: part of normal expenditure; made out of the individual’s income; made ... Continue Reading

Smartphones and "BlackBerries" can sometimes result in a benefit in kind, warns BKL Tax. Benefit in Kind? Some might say, after recent experiences, "What benefit?!" But this note is about the taxation of mobile phones and similar devices. In principle, if an employer makes an asset available for an employee's private use there is a charge to tax. Ignoring special cases like cars, vans and houses, the annual "benefit in kind" tax charge is at least 20% of the market value of the asset ... Continue Reading

Can HMRC force a taxpayer to provide information they don't have - and penalise them if they cannot provide it? Information Notices Taxpayers can be required to provide HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) with certain information and/or documents, if HMRC issues a written notice to that effect (FA 2008 Sch 36 para 1; previously TMA 1970 s 20(1)). The question arises: what information and documents are considered to be within the taxpayer’s remit to provide? What is a Taxpayer "Reasonably ... Continue Reading

In response to HMRC's editorial last week about the Business Records Check, Robin Williamson of LITRG says HMRC must follow its own rules. Introduction In last week’s editorial, Keeping Business Records, Richard Summersgill wrote about HMRC’s pilot programme of checking the records of small and medium-sized enterprises, describing ‘good’ record keeping as ‘a win-win practice for both businesses and HMRC’. But what is ‘good’ record keeping? ... Continue Reading