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A quick guide to recent additions to the HM Revenue & Customs website.Week ending 24 AugustWhat’s new?Inheritance Tax: IHT210A has been updated to include the IHT nil rate band of £300,000 and the recent increase to the interest rate for unpaid IHT;CT Online services: companies and agents can now update their details online using the new service;Research Report 33: Tax-advantaged employee share schemes: analysis of productivity effect;From Genesis to Revelations: A Study on Disclosure ... Continue Reading

HMRC have published Brief 52/07, which updates VAT policy on determining the place of supply of trading emissions allowances, announced in Business Brief 28/04, to include the treatment of trading in other greenhouse gas emission instruments that have emerged since that time.Customs Business Brief 28/04 stated that the place of supply of emissions allowances under the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS), when traded cross–border, is the place where the customer belongs. However, HMRC were, ... Continue Reading

A quick guide to recent additions to the HM Revenue & Customs website.Week ending 17 AugustWhat’s new? HMRC Brief 57/07, which contains an article: Disclosure of avoidance schemes: New information powers;Employer PAYE Nil payment notifications - new online service now available;Note that the UK/Macedonia Double Taxation Agreement entered into force on 8 August 2007;Negligible value list updated to 31 July 2007;Updated Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Schemes (QROPS) list;HMRC Anti-Avoidance ... Continue Reading

The tax and National Insurance contributions free limit applying to payments made by employers to employees attending full-time educational courses is to be increased from £15,000 to £15,480 from the start of the 2007/08 academic year.Payments made by employers to employees for periods of attendance at a full-time educational course (including sandwich courses) at a recognised academic establishment may be treated, without further question, as being exempt from income tax where certain ... Continue Reading

HMRC have published Brief 56/07, which announces a delay in the implementation of new VAT Lennartz accounting regulations.Budget 2007 contained details of three measures concerning the VAT treatment of assets to be used partly for non-business purposes, namely:legislation that was introduced in 2003, and which is now ineffective, is repealed;HMRC have been given powers to make regulations about how VAT charges on non-business use are calculated. The effect of these regulations will be to shorten ... Continue Reading

HMRC have published Brief 55/07, which covers their revised treatment of VAT incurred on home computers made available by  employers to their employees. This follows the withdrawal of the tax exemption which allowed employers to loan computer equipment to their employees tax free.Until now, for VAT purposes, HMRC have considered that as long as there was some business use, any VAT incurred on computers could be deducted in full without any adjustment for private use. However, following ... Continue Reading

Increased rates of interest on direct and indirect taxes and national insurance contributions (NICs) paid late and overpaid take effect from 6 August 2007.The main rate increases are as follows:Income tax, NICs, CGT, stamp duties etc. The rate of interest charged on income tax, NICs, capital gains tax (CGT), stamp duty, stamp duty land tax and stamp duty reserve tax paid late, tax credits overpayments in cases of fraud, neglect and on penalties charged, and on tax charged by an assessment for the ... Continue Reading

A quick guide to recent additions to the HM Revenue & Customs website.Week ending 10 AugustWhat’s new?New rates of interest on direct and indirect taxes and national insurance contributions paid late and overpaid;Update of the 2006 review of links with large business;Notice that from 1 June 2007 intermediaries such as Citizens Advice can be authorised to act on behalf of a client in both tax credits and Child Benefit;The Types of Collective Investment Schemes pages have been updated;The ... Continue Reading

HMRC have announced that they will be providing assistance to those affected by the recent outbreak of foot and mouth disease.HMRC have confirmed that they understand some individuals and businesses will find it difficult to meet their tax obligations due to the recent foot and mouth outbreak. Consequently, HMRC will: defer collection of taxes and duties or agree instalment arrangements where taxpayers are unable to pay as a result of severe difficulty;suspend debt collection proceedings;defer ... Continue Reading

HMRC have published draft guidance on the tax and national insurance (NI) position on journeys home from work and are inviting comments over the next five weeks.Ordinary commuting journeys between a permanent workplace and home are private journeys for tax and NI purposes. This means that where the cost of that journey is met by an employer it is treated as a benefit in kind and a subsequent charge to tax and NICs will arise.There are circumstances however, when an employee’s journey home from ... Continue Reading