30/10/2010, by Matthew Hutton MA, CTA (fellow), AIIT, TEP, Tax article - Inheritance Tax, IHT, Trusts & Estates, Capital Taxes
In the eighth of a series of extracts adapted from his eBook 'Hutton on Estate Planning' (3rd Edition), Matthew Hutton highlights a potential tax trap regarding Gift Aid donations.
Income Tax and Capital Gains Tax
A payment to a charity, which may be one-off or regular, can attract two forms of tax relief under the Gift Aid regime (FA 1990 s 25). First, a payment to the charity of an amount under deduction of Income Tax at the basic rate enables the charity to recover that basic rate ... Continue Reading
30/10/2010, by Steve Allen, Tax article - VAT & Excise Duties
Steve Allen of VAT Advisers Ltd reports on a selection of recent VAT cases.
ECJ says Provision of Retail Vouchers in Exchange for Salary is a Taxable Supply
The Appellant is a global pharmaceutical company which allowed its employees to exchange part of their remuneration for retail vouchers under a salary sacrifice arrangement. It purchased the retail vouchers at a discount to their face value, and incurred VAT on their purchase. The employees sacrificed salary to the extent of the ... Continue Reading
30/10/2010, by Mark McLaughlin CTA (Fellow) ATT TEP, Tax article - Business Tax
Mark McLaughlin warns to watch out for close company loans to participators.
Introduction
Many business owners operate more than one business, often through different legal entities. This can sometimes lead to unexpected and unwelcome tax consequences.
Companies and Partnerships
Care is needed if one of the businesses is a close company and the other business is a sole trader or partnership, where the unincorporated business owner is a ‘participator’ in the company. ... Continue Reading
27/10/2010, by Lee Sharpe, Tax news - HMRC Administration, Practice and Methods
HM Revenue & Customs latest Business Brief treats some communal areas as dwellings.HMRC's Business Brief 45/10 has set out their position regarding kitchens and other communal areas for multiple occupancy dwellings such as student accommodation. This update has been awaited for some time. In summary, areas such as kitchens and lounges will now be treated as dwellings alongside tenants' private rooms. This may have implications for VAT, and for expenditure otherwise eligible for Capital Allowances, ... Continue Reading
24/10/2010, by Mark McLaughlin CTA (Fellow) ATT TEP, Tax article - Business Tax
Mark McLaughlin considers the implications of the decision in the recent P A Holdings case.
Background
In Revenue and Customs v PA Holdings Ltd [2010] UKUT B8, the Upper-tier tribunal (UTT) dealt with appeals from both parties against decisions of the First- tier tribunal (FTT).
The case concerned an arrangement by PA Holdings Ltd (PA) effectively to reroute bonuses awarded to UK resident employees, so that they were paid and taxed as dividends rather than employment income. The ... Continue Reading
24/10/2010, by Matthew Hutton MA, CTA (fellow), AIIT, TEP, Tax article - Inheritance Tax, IHT, Trusts & Estates, Capital Taxes
In the seventh of a series of extracts adapted from his eBook 'Hutton on Estate Planning' (3rd Edition), Matthew Hutton looks at Inheritance Tax (IHT) planning arrangements involving life assurance and pensions.
Life Assurance
The classic use of life assurance is to build up, outside the chargeable estate, a fund which can be used to pay at least part of the IHT burden on death. There is a wide variety of different types of life assurance policy. The ‘traditional’ product ... Continue Reading
24/10/2010, by Steve Allen, Tax article - VAT & Excise Duties
Steve Allen of VAT Advisers Ltd looks at the practice of 'business splitting' for VAT purposes.
Introduction
The impending 20% rate of VAT from 1 January 2011 has raised concerns amongst small VAT-registered businesses about their pricing structure and how to remain competitive. So much so, that some are considering the idea of splitting their business into two or more parts, so that at least one part would not be VAT-registered, and be able to charge less than their VAT-registered competitors, ... Continue Reading
22/10/2010, by Low Incomes Tax Reform Group, Tax article - General
HMRC issuing large numbers of PAYE tax calculations has put tax in the headlines recently. LITRG gives a reminder of this and other issues to think about this month.
Tax – it’s never-ending
In the tax world, a month never passes without there being something to consider, depending on your situation – whether you are an employee paying tax under PAYE, filing self-assessment tax returns, a tax credits claimant, or even all three!
Filing your 2009/10 self-assessment ... Continue Reading
21/10/2010, by Lee Sharpe, Tax news - HMRC Administration, Practice and Methods
Mr. Osborne was keen to emphasise that cutting government spending was the alternative to raising taxes. But we have already seen that restriction of reliefs such as for Capital Allowances, and pension contributions, plus cutbacks in benefits and credits, will affect taxpayers large and small.
Very large businesses with high energy bills are smarting, after discovering that many will have to pay more under the Carbon Reduction Commitment Scheme, and they will no longer benefit from ... Continue Reading
21/10/2010, by Low Incomes Tax Reform Group, Tax article - General
A difficult balancing act for any government is to make cuts in HMRC without killing the goose that is laying the golden eggs. LITRG reports on yesterday’s Spending Review.
Protection of the vulnerable
The Chancellor said in Parliament yesterday that one of his priorities was the protection of the vulnerable. So we have looked at the proposed settlement for HMRC and tried to assess the impact upon the most vulnerable of their “customers”.
It was interesting ... Continue Reading
