03/03/2009, by Sarah Laing, Tax news - HMRC Administration, Practice and Methods
Modernising the UK's direct tax law has taken another step forward, as two new draft bills rewriting corporation tax and international tax legislation were published by the Tax Law Rewrite project.Announcing the Bills, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, Stephen Timms MP, said: "These two Bills will complete the task of rewriting the majority of direct tax legislation for individuals and businesses that started in 1996. Thanks to the close co-operation between the project team, tax practitioners, ... Continue Reading
02/03/2009, by Sarah Laing, Tax news - Business Tax
HMRC have issued an alert to employers with 50 or more employees regarding important changes to PAYE from 6 April 2009.Large employers must send their employee starter and leaver information - P45s, P46s and P46(Pen) for pensions - online from 6 April 2009. Failure to do so could result in a penalty. Forms are filed online using HMRC's PAYE Online for Employers service, which employers must first register with at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk. Once registered, there are several ways to file: HMRC's free ... Continue Reading
02/03/2009, by Sarah Laing, Tax news - Income Tax
HMRC have announced a cut in the interest rate used to work out tax due under the pre-owned assets regime.The prescribed rate decreased from 6.25 per cent to 4.75 per cent on 1 March 2009.The prescribed rate is the official rate of interest used to calculate the chargeable amount for income tax, at the valuation date, where the benefit arises from either chattels or intangible property. The official rate of interest has the meaning given in section 181 of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act ... Continue Reading
28/02/2009, by Peter Arrowsmith FCA, Tax article - PAYE and Payroll Taxes, National Insurance, NICs
Peter Arrowsmith FCA highlights a selection of NIC matters, and offers some tips on NIC repayments, deferment and claims for the Winter Fuel Allowance.Hope for Construction CompaniesIn Castle Construction (Chesterfield) Ltd v HMRC Commissioners (SpC 723), the Special Commissioner held that over 300 workers had been correctly treated as self-employed rather than employees as HMRC contented. The HMRC challenge was despite a number of clear badges of self-employment not least of which was the requirement ... Continue Reading
28/02/2009, by Malcolm Finney, Tax article - Property Taxation
Malcolm Finney explores a popular and important topic for many TaxationWeb visitors in relation to property taxation. BackgroundThe manner in which property is owned impacts upon its tax treatment.This article looks at some of the issues involved.Legal v BeneficialEnglish law recognises two forms of ownership, namely, legal ownership and beneficial ownership. For UK tax purposes it is beneficial ownership which is important. If an individual “X” is shown as the registered owner of shares in ... Continue Reading
28/02/2009, by Anthony Nixon, Tax article - Business Tax
Anthony Nixon reports on the recent High Court decision in the Nelson Dance case, and considers the potential IHT implications for business owners.IntroductionThis briefing focuses on the new opportunity given to business owners to make inheritance tax-free gifts to the next generation, thanks to the recent Nelson Dance case.Key pointsSole traders and those in business in partnership have a new opportunity to obtain business property relief (BPR) from inheritance tax (IHT) on lifetime gifts;In most ... Continue Reading
23/02/2009, by Sarah Laing, Tax news - Business Tax
Interest rates charged on late payments and paid on overpayments for corporation tax quarterly instalment payments (QIPs) and also early payments of corporation tax not due by instalments have been cut from 16 February 2009.The rates covering late payments and overpayments of all other direct taxes, indirect taxes and national insurance contributions remain unchanged. Announcing the new interest rates, HMRC stated that they are continuing to look at ways to simplify and harmonise the rules for interest ... Continue Reading
23/02/2009, by Sarah Laing, Tax news - HMRC Administration, Practice and Methods
HMRC have launched a series of online, bite-sized video guides for new and small businesses.The 10 videos, fronted by TV presenter Dan Snow, provide a helpful overview on a range of tax issues, including setting up in business, income tax for the self-employed, corporation tax and VAT. The videos also provide handy links to further online information and help. The full list of web videos is as follows:setting up in business;income tax for the self employed;National Insurance;record keeping;employing ... Continue Reading
21/02/2009, by Mark McLaughlin CTA (Fellow) ATT TEP, Tax article - Business Tax
Mark McLaughlin CTA (Fellow) ATT TEP highlights a potential problem with overdrawn directors' loan accounts. Deliberate but not concealed?The new penalty regime for incorrect tax returns affects income tax, corporation tax, VAT, PAYE and other returns, for periods from 1 April 2008 which are due to be filed after 31 March 2009, and is therefore now generally upon us in terms of personal and company tax returns for current periods. A recent article in the ICAEW’s Taxline highlighted examples in ... Continue Reading
21/02/2009, by Andrew Needham, Tax article - VAT & Excise Duties
Andrew Needham, Director of VAT Specialists Ltd, comments on the new VAT rate of 15% from a consumer and business perspective.IntroductionAs we all know, the Chancellor announced in the Pre-Budget Report on 24 November 2009 that the UK standard-rate of VAT would reduce from 17.5% to 15% for the period 1 December 2008 to 31 December 2009. [Those of us sufficiently 'long in the tooth' will recall that this was the main rate before the move to 17.5% some years ago! - Ed.]For ConsumersClearly, the aim ... Continue Reading
