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Penny Hamilton and Oliver Connolly considers some practical aspects to HMRC’s approach to the review process (for all taxes except restoration decisions under CEMA, s 152(b)).   Introduction At the time of writing there is little or no information in the public domain as to how the review process actually works in practice. It is therefore useful to consider how HMRC intend the process to work and the best indication of this is in the internal guidance that they have issued ... Continue Reading

The deadline for renewing Tax Credits is almost upon us - 31 July. Many people will have 'fallen out' of the system now that eligible income levels have been reduced, and they may decide not to renew a 'Nil Award' now that HMRC isn't doing it automatically. (See Tax Credits and the New Tax Year - Changes and Renewals) But there is good reason for making a protective claim so that, if there are financial problems later in the tax year, your Tax Credits claim can be revised for the year, which ... Continue Reading

Tax to pay on 31 July? Not received a statement? Don’t worry. If your statement only arrives in August, HMRC won’t charge interest provided you pay within 30 days. HMRC’s announcement HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have confirmed that there are some delays in sending out this year’s Self Assessment (SA) statements showing tax payments due on 31 July 2011. Whilst they hope that most will be sent out by the end of the month, some will arrive later. HMRC’s ... Continue Reading

Revenue Delays HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has today confirmed that up to 500,000 Self Assessment Statements will not be delivered in time for 31 July - the deadline for the second Payment on Account for the 2011/12 tax year. Interest Postponed/Foregone HMRC appreciates that many taxpayers will be in the habit of relying on the arrival of their July Statement of Account to prompt them to make payment, using the handy tear-off payslip at the bottom of the form, so they have now confirmed ... Continue Reading

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is piloting telephone 'education' for owners of new businesses. This involves calling the 'customer' and offering "...to talk them through some of the main things they need to know as a new business and to signpost them to the available help online". The calls will not involve discussions of the individual's tax affairs. HMRC advisers making the calls will be using a call list, rather than using 'live' systems. It is difficult to be critical of an initiative ... Continue Reading

Julie Butler looks at pre-letting costs and their tax implications. Introduction In the current economic climate, many property owners are forced to let out property. The reason is perhaps because they cannot sell the property at the right price, or it is an elderly person moving into a care home or a second home that must be let out, or perhaps it is an entrepreneur wanting to start a property business. Whatever the reasons for the pre-letting costs that might be incurred by the ... Continue Reading

National press reports earlier this year indicated that HM Revenue & Customs had ‘lost’ around £1.3Billion in National Insurance Contributions. TaxationWeb’s National Insurance editor Peter Arrowsmith answers some questions and gives his expert opinion on the real issues underlying the headlines. Q1 These National Insurance Contributions (NICs) aren’t really ‘lost’ but they are the aggregate of NICs which HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has not been able ... Continue Reading

James Bailey looks at the 'Subject Access Report' and how taxpayers can use it. Introduction - Relying on Advice from HM Revenue & Customs My heart always sinks when someone with a tax problem tells me that they rang HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) “…and they said it was all right”. More often than not, they have either been given the wrong information, or they have misunderstood what they were told. If you must ring HMRC for help, then make sure you get the full ... Continue Reading

In our recent Update - Items of Post HMRC WON'T Destroy After Scanning - we pointed out that there was a discrepancy in the guidance on for how long most original items of post would be held before being destroyed. Original guidance stated that most items of post would be destroyed within 40 days of receipt; more recent guidance had indicated that there would be at least 40 working days before items would be destroyed. We received confirmation last week that the latter applied, and are ... Continue Reading

James Bailey warns that the 'Only or Main Residence' Exemption can be denied or restricted in certain circumstances. Introduction Everyone knows that a gain they make when selling their home is exempt from Capital Gains Tax (CGT), but everyone is not always correct in this assumption. There are several ways in which CGT can be payable on the sale of your home, and this article concentrates on the way the exemption is withdrawn in cases where money has been spent ‘wholly or partly’ ... Continue Reading