23/10/2009, by Low Incomes Tax Reform Group, Tax news - Income Tax
The Low Incomes Tax Reform Group comments on a recent report which finds that 1.5 milllion pensioners are overpaying tax. Introduction The National Audit Office (NAO) today published a damning report estimating that 1.5 million pensioners are overcharged by HMRC. This is no surprise to LITRG. The LITRG have written three reports in the last 12 years identifying the causes of what they see as HMRC's desperately inadequate performance in assessing older taxpayers. In that time HMRC have only paid ... Continue Reading
17/10/2009, by HM Revenue & Customs, Tax news - HMRC Administration, Practice and Methods
A record 83,000 scam emails offering fake tax refunds were reported to HMRC in September. The online attacks, known as ‘phishing’, have continued this month, with an unprecedented 10,000 reports of the fraud made to HMRC on one day alone.The scam email tells the recipient they are due a tax refund and then asks for bank account or credit card details. Anyone who gives these details to the fraudsters risks their bank accounts being emptied and credit cards maxed to their limit. The victim also ... Continue Reading
17/10/2009, by HM Revenue & Customs, Tax article - General
Jane Frost, director of HMRC’s Individuals Customer Directorate, explains how the public can now use the Internet to report their concerns about possible tax evasion.Introduction One of our key aims at HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is to prevent people and businesses “getting away” without paying their fair share of tax.To this end, clamping down on those who try to cheat the system by evading taxes, or committing Tax Credit fraud, is a top priority. We get help and information from the public ... Continue Reading
17/10/2009, by Mark McLaughlin CTA (Fellow) ATT TEP, Tax article - Business Tax
Mark McLaughlin CTA (Fellow) ATT TEP looks at the ongoing problem of goodwill valuations and trade related property.IntroductionBusiness sales and incorporations may be on the decline in the present economic climate, but goodwill valuation is very much a 'live' issue.HMRCs guidance on goodwill changed in September 2008. Previously (following case law) HMRC likened the behaviour of business customers to certain types of animal (i.e., dogs, cats, rabbits and rats). Developing this principle, in HMRC's ... Continue Reading
17/10/2009, by Matthew Hutton MA, CTA (fellow), AIIT, TEP, Tax article - Inheritance Tax, IHT, Trusts & Estates, Capital Taxes
Matthew Hutton MA, CTA (fellow), AIIT, TEP looks at the Inheritance Tax position of registered pension schemes.ContextProperty held within a registered pension scheme is prevented from being ‘relevant property’ under the relevant property regime (IHTA 1984 s 58(1)(d)). That statutory protection ceases once funds are released from the scheme following the death [of a member].The Two Year Period of Grace: Change in HMRC PracticeHMRC have allowed a ‘grace period’ of two years following the death ... Continue Reading
17/10/2009, by Andrew Needham, Tax article - VAT & Excise Duties
Andrew Needham, Director of VAT Specialists Ltd, highlights some potential problem areas when dealing with VAT and Intrastat systems. IntroductionA client contacted us with a problem he had encountered during a Customs VAT visit. Customs had checked his Intrastat returns against his VAT returns and EC Sales Lists, and they did not match. Customs said that he must have made mistakes, and that he had to identify what they were. Our client had checked his Intrastat returns and was sure that he had completed ... Continue Reading
16/10/2009, by Low Incomes Tax Reform Group, Tax news - Income Tax
LITRG find a problem with the HMRC campaign to improve take-up of Working Tax Credit among people without children.IntroductionHMRC have launched a take-up campaign for Working Tax Credit (WTC) by targeting those people without children. (See HM Revenue & Customs' article on TaxationWeb - The Taxman Wants to Up Your Wages). This is the primary group where ignorance of the rules is high and the take-up low. However, the HMRC campaign threatens to exclude people who might qualify, at the same ... Continue Reading
14/10/2009, by HM Revenue & Customs, Tax news - HMRC Administration, Practice and Methods
Over 468,000 mums-to-be have benefited from the new Heath in Pregnancy Grant – worth £190 – since it was launched in April 2009.The Heath in Pregnancy Grant is a one-off payment intended to help pregnant mums stay fit and healthy in the run up to the birth and meet some of the costs as the big day approaches.Urging mums-to-be not to lose out the Rt Hon Stephen Timms MP, Financial Secretary to the Treasury said:“I’m delighted that so many mums-to-be have already claimed the Heath in Pregnancy ... Continue Reading
14/10/2009, by Low Incomes Tax Reform Group, Tax article - General
Improvements to the tax treatment of international students coming to the UK, thanks to the Low Incomes Tax Reform GroupIntroductionStudents come from overseas to study in the UK and not all of them are penniless. When they have income or gains back “home” their tax lives can get complicated. However, there have been some helpful developments recently.BackgroundOver the last two years, the Government has been overhauling the tax rules for people coming to the UK who have money abroad. This includes ... Continue Reading
12/10/2009, by Low Incomes Tax Reform Group, Tax article - General
HMRC are in the midst of offering a special deal for those who have been up to no good with their tax affairs overseas, but will those who want to come clean about their onshore affairs get the same advantages, asks John Andrews?Background When HMRC had their last "amnesty" in 2008, called the Offshore Disclosure Facility, they had, in rather small print, a parallel offer to those who wanted to confess their tax sins in respect of income and gains in the UK. I thought at the time that this was rather ... Continue Reading
