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HM Revenue & Customs warns that it will be examining construction projects linked to the Olympic Games for Tax, National Insurance or National Minimum Wage issues. Introduction Companies working on construction projects for next summer’s Olympic Games are warned that HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) will crack down on Tax, National Insurance or National Minimum Wage breaches. Mike Eland, HMRC’s Director General of Enforcement and Compliance, said: “We aim to help ... Continue Reading

LITRG is concerned that HMRC’s plan to collect more and larger tax debts by deducting them from wage packets could put low-income taxpayers into financial difficulty. Using PAYE to collect tax debts LITRG does not object in principle to HMRC collecting ‘old’ tax bills by using the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) system. Indeed, this can often be efficient. But equally, it can go wrong. A person moving jobs can find their tax code doesn’t keep up with them, so part ... Continue Reading

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has announced trials of a Single Compliance Process for enquiries across a range of different taxes. By simplifying and standardising the process for compliance checks HMRC will "improve customer experience" and reduce costs as the check will only take as long as the risks and behaviours encountered dictate.  The trials of the new process will run for six months from 1 June in 10 different locations across the UK: Reading/Slough, Newcastle, Warrington, York, Exeter, London ... Continue Reading

Steve Lamey, Director of Benefits and Credits at HM Revenue & Customs reminds Tax Credit claimants: Renew your claim by the end of July to prevent your payments being stopped. If you receive Tax Credits you must renew your claim by 31 July 2011 or your payments may stop. In fact it’s a good idea to renew your claim as soon as you receive a renewal pack from HM Revenue & Customs, so we can make sure you are getting the right money. What do I Need to Do to Renew my Tax Credit Claim? You ... Continue Reading

This week saw HMRC launch the first strategic task force aimed at tackling the problem of the minority of businesses that evade tax. Our task forces comprise specialist compliance and enforcement teams drawn from throughout HMRC. The task forces will be deployed for intensive bursts of activity aimed at specific sectors and locations where we have intelligence of a high risk of tax evasion. The first task force will focus on the restaurant trade, initially targeting businesses in London ... Continue Reading

Jennifer Adams highlights potential reasons for an enquiry by HM Revenue and Customs into the tax returns of property owners. Introduction We all know the Government is in need of cash, and the Chancellor has already instructed the Local Compliance Investigation Teams of HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to take a tough line with some ‘buy-to-let’ property owners. Therefore HMRC will necessarily increase the overall number of tax enquiries made this coming tax year and some have ... Continue Reading

James Bailey considers looks at a potential National Insurance pitfall for director shareholders of family companies. Introduction Generally speaking, one of the more tax-efficient ways for shareholder/directors of family companies to extract money from the company is by paying dividends. Because they have their own Income Tax rate, and carry a tax credit from the company, the effective rate of Income Tax on dividends is only 25% for a 40% taxpayer. This compares with Income Tax ... Continue Reading

Steve Allen of VAT Advisers Ltd highlights a further selection of recent VAT cases. Tribunal says Second Phase of New Nursing Home Also Qualified for the Zero Rate This case is worthy of note if only because it was an appeal that was formally represented by VAT Advisers Ltd! The case concerns a charitable nursing home which claimed zero-rating on the construction of a new £400K kitchen and laundry block under VATA94 Group 5 Sch 8. The Appellant argued that even though the new facilities ... Continue Reading

Yesterday, HM Revenue & Customs issued a Press Notice - Withdrawal of Pseudo Commodity Code 9950 0000 for Use with Low Value Imports. Apparently, reports have been circulating elsewhere that this relates to the withdrawal of the Low Value Consignment Code for the purposes of Intrastat reporting. HMRC has confirmed that this is not the case: it is only being withdrawn - from 1 July - for the purposes of reporting imports into the European Union - such as goods enjoying Low Value Consignment ... Continue Reading

New task forces to tackle tax dodgers were announced today by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC). The first task force will focus on the restaurant trade, targeting businesses in London over the coming weeks. The task forces, which bring together various HMRC compliance and enforcement teams, will undertake intensive bursts of compliance activity in specific trade sectors and locations across the UK, where there is evidence of high risk of tax evasion. The restaurant trade in Scotland and the ... Continue Reading