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RSM UK's Philip Munn warns that HMRC intends to prevent late adjustments to VAT by using credit notes, from 1 September 2019. If you make a mistake when calculating the VAT you owe HMRC on a return you can only correct this if you let HMRC know within four years. However, in some cases, there is an argument that to correct an error a taxpayer should issue a credit note (to reduce the VAT accounted for by the supplier) or a debit note (to increase the VAT due on the supply) instead of applying to ... Continue Reading

BKL looks at the recent Dundas case on Capital Allowances that were claimed out of time - until HMRC opened tax enquiries. When is a time limit not a time limit? On the evidence of the Tribunal case of Revenue and Customs v Dundas Heritable Ltd (Tax) [2019] UKUT 208 (TCC) (2 July 2019), it’s when the time limit relates to a company’s claim to capital allowances. The rules that apply to claims to capital allowances are different from those that govern other claims. Except in a few special ... Continue Reading

This article is an extract from our specialist tax report Taxation of Property Partnerships and Joint Ownership The precise saving potentially to be made will depend on the particular circumstances, with due regard to adjustments for pension contributions, gift aid, and particular types of income and gains, but as a general rule, for 2019/20:  Where a 40% taxpayer is able to share his or her income with another who has unused 20% Basic Rate band, then the overall tax saving can ... Continue Reading

RSM UK's Rachel de Souza looks at HMRC's Annual Report and Accounts.                                  HMRC is a public body but like all companies, it publishes an annual report and accounts. For a document which covers over 300 pages, it makes interesting and informative reading. It provides an in-depth analysis of where the Treasury gets its money from. There are some surprising ... Continue Reading

BKL considers the findings of the Upper Tribunal at the recent Ingenious Games hearing. After 22 days hearing the case earlier this year, the Upper Tribunal published at the end of July its decision in Ingenious Games LLP and others v HMRC [2019] UKUT 0226 (TCC), also involving Inside Track Productions LLP and Ingenious Film Partners 2 LLP. It's a lengthy document (though less than a third of the First-tier Tribunal's gargantuan 1,843 paragraphs) analysing in detail the arguments and counter-arguments ... Continue Reading

BKL considers the tax treatment of the receipt of compensation as damages. A client recently asked us if damages received from an accountant who has given negligent tax advice (not us, obviously!) are taxable. The answer is: almost never. But it got us thinking about the taxation of damages generally: what follows is a five-minute primer. As with all receipts, you start by considering whether there’s a charge to Income Tax. Case law has established a “filling a hole” principle: ... Continue Reading

RSM UK's George Bull points out that the government has known for years about the looming pension tax problems for doctors and others in the public sector - and proposes a radical solution. The row over doctors’ pension contributions and tax bills has taken a fresh turn recently. On the face of it, things began well, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s initial recognition that ‘it is clear that something has gone badly wrong in the taxation of doctors’ pensions. So, this ... Continue Reading

Lee Sharpe looks at the new VAT Reverse Charge in Construction regime, coming to a building site near you from 1 October 2019… Please note important update to this article - VAT Reverse Charge for Construction Services: HMRC Announces 1-Year Delay in Implementation BUT is that Enough?  Background The proposed regime was mooted as far back as 2017 and I must admit that I took a rather dim view of it then, as I do now. If anything, the light shines even less brightly than it did ... Continue Reading

Principal Private Residence Relief (PPR) is one of the most valuable and claimed reliefs against a charge to Capital Gains Tax on the disposal of a dwelling house. To benefit from the relief, the dwelling house must be the taxpayer’s only or main residence throughout the period of ownership, excepting for any or all of the last 18 months of ownership (36 months should the owner or their spouse/civil partner live in residential care as a long-term resident, or is a disabled person, at the time ... Continue Reading

In 2013 HMRC announced a series of campaigns designed to give taxpayers the opportunity to bring their tax affairs up to date on advantageous penalty terms - no questions asked. Each campaign targeted a specific taxpayer group or type of taxable activity. All except two of those campaigns have now closed but one that has stood the test of time is the 'Property Tax Campaign'. Question is... how long with this campaign remain available?  HMRC's original investigations led them to believe that ... Continue Reading