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HMRC have published guidance for employers where a retrospective liability to income tax and national insurance contributions (NICs) arises under PAYE.Under new legislation, which came into force on 6 April 2007, outstanding PAYE liabilities arising for 2006/07 and earlier years are due for payment by 19 June 2007. Returns for 2006/07 are of course, due by 19 May 2008. 6 April 2007 also determines the start of the 90 day period an employee has to make good to the employer the additional tax due and ... Continue Reading

HMRC have added an introduction to Child Tax Credit (CTC) and Working Tax Credit (WTC) to their website.Broadly, the introductory information is easy to read and advises that CTC may be payable to anyone responsible for at least one child or young person who normally lives with them, and for those who work but earn low wages, WTC may also be payable.According to HMRC, nine out of ten families with children qualify for child tax credits. How much they receive depends on things like:the number ... Continue Reading

Taxpayers should check their Pay As You Earn (PAYE) coding notice from HMRC to ensure that they are paying the right amount of tax.Many taxpayers do not realise they may be paying more tax than they should. Others may not be paying enough and may not realise that they have a responsibility to let HMRC know.John Cullinane, President of The Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT), says: “Those taxpayers who complete a self-assessment tax form are given an explicit opportunity to state ... Continue Reading

A quick guide to recent additions to the HM Revenue & Customs website.Week ending 11 MayWhat’s new?Inheritance tax: an amended version of the guaranteed annuities calculator is now available on-line;CIS for charities: guidance on claiming exemption from registration under the new CIS regulations;CIS: 2 FAQs have been added to the Payments & Returns page;The Finance Act 2006, section 19, (Appointed Day) Order 2007 (SI 2007/1419);UK/Japan Double Taxation Convention: Forms available to ... Continue Reading

In the second part of a series of notes on the inheritance tax (IHT) treatment of trusts after Finance Act 2006, Matthew Hutton MA, CTA (fellow), AIIT, TEP looks at Transitional Serial Interests, Accumulation and Maintenance Trusts and Trusts of Life Insurance Policies.  Transitional Serial Interests (TSIs)Restriction of the Section 49(1) Deeming ProvisionFA 2006 amends s 49(1) of IHTA 1984 to provide that it shall apply to an interest in possession arising on or after 22 March 2006 only if ... Continue Reading

Aidan Langley summarises the elections that are available in relation to restricted securities, and the issues to be taken into account by employers and employees in deciding whether to make them.The ElectionsSection 425 electionA Section 425 election relates to restricted and forfeitable securities, where the risk of forfeiture lasts for less than five years. The default position is that there is no general earnings charge on the acquisition of such securities [ITEPA 2003, s 425(2)].If a Section ... Continue Reading

Andrew Gotch, tax consultant and Managing Director of Professional Tax Practice outlines some of the most common pitfalls to avoid a CIS compliance failure.New Construction Industry Scheme - a high risk area New legislation for the Construction Industry Scheme that went live on April 6th 2007 has far reaching implications for everyone in the building trades and many sub-contractors are still not ready to deal with this massively high risk area.  Here are some of the easy pitfalls that would ... Continue Reading

HMRC are to hold further discussions in conjunction with the review of Employee Car Ownership Schemes (ECOS) and the interaction with company car tax and mileage payments, details of which were first announced in the 2006 Pre-Budget Report.Broadly, it was announced in the 2007 Budget that the Government is considering the case for changing the structure of annual mileage allowance payments (AMAPS) to align the tax and NICs treatment, and "to ensure that the rates and thresholds are set ... Continue Reading

Some 56,000 businesses throughout the UK could be benefiting this month from changes made to the VAT cash accounting scheme (CAS).The scheme is designed to help small-to-medium-sized companies cope with cash flow difficulties and, from 1 April 2007, the eligibility threshold was more than doubled from £660,000 to £1.35 million.Broadly, the changes mean an extra 56,500 businesses can now benefit from the scheme, bringing the total number of businesses UK-wide to more than 810,000. This ... Continue Reading

The Government has published an amendment to Finance Bill 2007, clause 31, which deals with restrictions on companies buying losses or gains and associated tax avoidance schemes.In summary, the amendments now published (Amendments 79, 80 and 81) ensure that the simplification of the conditions relating to the use of certain capital losses realised by companies before 5 December 2005 does not create an opportunity for those losses to be used by groups other than the one in which they arose. The amendments ... Continue Reading