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There have been several initiatives announced by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) over the last few weeks. Lee Sharpe points out just a few to look out for. Specialist Tax ‘Task Forces’! HMRC intends to target certain business sectors in specific locations: the first destination is the restaurant trade in London, soon to be followed by Scotland and the North West. The numbers involved are substantial: up to 600 businesses will be reviewed in each area. Here the emphasis is on ... Continue Reading

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has announced that it is now implementing its new policy of scanning the post it receives from taxpayers and agents in respect of tax enquiries. When dealing with enquiries under this new postal regime, HMRC should now be asking for future correspondence to be sent to a central postal address. This follows on from the policy of removing enquiry work from local offices - taxpayers' affairs are now commonly dealt with by offices in distant regions, or by more ... Continue Reading

LITRG’s reminder article this month covers looking at your tax affairs for last year and getting your tax credits renewal out of the way well before the deadline.   Introduction Tax, tax credits and benefits often interlink, as LITRG has demonstrated on numerous occasions. For this reason, you should always look at your overall circumstances. Here LITRG brings together a series of topical reminders, highlighting issues to consider if you: might be due a tax refund are ... Continue Reading

LITRG’s response to the European Commission’s consultation on VAT reform stresses that the impact of change on consumers and individuals running small businesses must be taken into account.   VAT and low-income consumers VAT is a particularly regressive tax, imposing the highest burdens on people with low, fixed incomes such as many pensioners and those living on state benefits. LITRG’s short submission in response to the European Commission Green Paper on the ... Continue Reading

Smith and Williamson provide an introduction to Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs) as a possible business structure.  Advantages of a Limited Liability Partnership LLP status has a number of advantages over a partnership structure, including the following: Limited liability – by far the most important benefit is that only the LLP will be responsible for its own contractual obligations and only a member who is personally negligent will be potentially exposed to claims ... Continue Reading

James Bailey provides some useful tax pointers for business entrepreneurs. Planning Ahead When Setting Up in Business It is important to consider your exit strategy when you are setting up a business. You should consider the following questions: Do you expect that you are going to build the business up and eventually sell it as a going concern to somebody else? Would you want to pass the business on to employees and have them pay you for it? Is it going to be ... Continue Reading

Penny Hamilton and Oliver Connolly highlight HMRC's internal review process in respect of tax appeals. Introduction As part of the reform of tax appeals HMRC have introduced a new internal review process which provides a means of settling disputes at an early stage without recourse to the Tribunal. It applies to all direct tax appeals, and to appeals against indirect tax decisions, except appeals against decisions about the restoration of seized goods under Customs and Excise Management ... Continue Reading

New Relationship Between HMRC and Tax Agents: Is HMRC Giving Up? TaxationWeb considers HM Revenue & Customs' commitment to quality of service. Well, yet another interesting week here at TW Towers: there have been a couple of announcements by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) about proposals to restrict the availability of Capital Allowances on property, ( Capital Allowance Tax Reliefs on Property - Problems Ahead for Property Owners? ) and ‘green energy technology’ - HMRC Plans ... Continue Reading

HM Revenue & Customs has launched a consultation on proposals to minimise the availability of Capital Allowances for 'green' installations harnessing renewable energy. The previous Labour government introduced a range of measures to encourage homeowners and businesses to embrace renewable energy production: simply put, they guaranteed income to people - including homeowners - for every unit of energy produced, and for a period of up to 25 years. This was a significant financial incentive ... Continue Reading

HM Revenue & Customs has issued a consultation, proposing to change the rules for claiming Capital Allowances on fixtures in a building. The changes, which were trailed in the 2011 Budget, are likely to create significant problems for property buyers. Capital Allowances are a tax deduction claimed against fixed assets such as cars, computers, machinery, office equipment and the like. It is the tax equivalent of depreciation. Generally, a business (such as a property business or a trade) ... Continue Reading