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A 51 year old woman from Bristol has been jailed for more than five years for fraudulently obtaining repayments of VAT in excess of £4 million.During a trial that laster twelve weeks, the court heard how, during the period from 1999 to 2002, the woman had manipulated the business affairs of her group of companies, the Peakviewing Transatlantic Group, to obtain repayments of VAT to which she was not entitled which she then used to prop up the finances of her business. Companies registered for ... Continue Reading

Aparna Nathan, Barrister, considers the concept of domicile in the context of a recent Court of Appeal decisionIntroductionDomicile is a concept of private international law rather than a concept of tax law. However, it is used in determining the ability of the United Kingdom to charge certain individuals to tax. An individual who is not domiciled in any part of the United Kingdom but who is resident and ordinarily resident here enjoys significant tax advantages. It is, therefore, a matter of some ... Continue Reading

Matthew Hutton MA, CTA (fellow), AIIT, TEP, author of Capital Tax Review, outlines HM Revenue & Customs' view on the effects of reversionary lease schemes for inheritance tax and 'pre-owned assets' income tax purposes.  ContextMatthew HuttonHMRC’s Technical Guidance on the POA regime has most recently been warning that they were reconsidering the position of reversionary leases.  Hitherto HMRC had confirmed that leases made on or after 9 March 1999 were caught ... Continue Reading

Andrew Needham of VAT Solutions (UK) Ltd provides a further update on recent VAT decisions.VAT Tribunal agrees that taxpayer supplied separate zero-rated printed matterAndrew NeedhamA classic ‘single supply v multiple supply’ argument, concerning the weekly meetings for slimmers (including weigh-ins) and the literature provided on initial registration and at those meetings. HMRC had previously allowed an apportionment, but issued a revised ruling from 1 January 2005 ... Continue Reading

HMRC have added a number of new Tactical and Information Packages (TIPs) to their website.TIPS are trade and profession-based notes for internal use by HMRC officers. These notes combine sector/trade information together with tactical information and risk reviews with the primary purpose of supporting compliance activity throughout the department. The notes are also designed to improve commercial awareness by providing trade- based information on particular business sectors such as trading practices, ... Continue Reading

A new EU law on travellers declaring cash takes effect from 15 June 2007.From that date, people who are either entering the UK from a non-EU country, or are travelling from the UK to a non-EU country and are carrying 10,000 Euros or more (or the equivalent in other currencies) will be required to declare the cash to HMRC at the place of their departure from, or arrival in, the UK. "Cash" includes currency notes and coins, and bankers' drafts and cheques of any kind (including travellers' ... Continue Reading

HMRC have produced draft guidance on the circumstances in which they may accept late elections under Finance Bill 2007, cl. 65, which allows them to use their discretion in accepting late elections from taxpayers for IHT treatment of assets.Finance Bill 2007 Clause 65 concerns the time limits for elections in relation to the “pre-owned assets” (POA) income tax charge in Finance Act 2004, Schedule 15. Broadly, Schedule 15 was introduced to prevent avoidance of IHT. It provides for ... Continue Reading

The Low Incomes Tax Reform Group (LITRG) of the Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT) has published a report entitled Older People on Low Incomes - The Case for Tax Reform, which addresses some of the recurring issues facing pensioners where the Group believes there is an urgent need for reform.In the report, LITRG explains why it believes older people deserve special consideration from the tax system, and assesses whether the standard of service that HMRC offers matches up to what older people ... Continue Reading

Employers must submit expenses and benefits return forms P11D for 2006/07 to HMRC by 6 July 2007 to avoid penalty charges being incurred.In addition, employers must also submit form P11D(b), which is the return of Class 1A National Insurance contributions due for 2006/07, where applicable. Failure to submit this return could also lead to a penalty charge.Employers should advise HMRC accordingly if no returns are due.If employers submitted forms P11Ds and a P11D(b) for 2005/06, HMRC will have already ... Continue Reading

HMRC have announced that there are delays with the processing of both online and paper VAT registration applications. Whilst steps are being taken to improve this situation, HMRC are requesting customers not to contact them to check on progress.Currently, the only VAT form available online is the VAT registration form VAT 1, although links are povided to other forms that may be needed to complete the application.The main benefits of using the recently introduced VAT online registration ... Continue Reading