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The Institute of Chartered Accountants (ICAEW) has issued a reminder that self-assessment taxpayers, who have not yet paid all the tax due for the 2005-2006 tax year, will incur cumulative penalties the longer payment is delayed.On the 28 February HMRC will impose a 5% surcharge on all unpaid tax from 2005/06, 28 days after the final deadline of 31st January 2007. In addition, interest will be payable on the surcharge if it is not paid within 30 days of the date of the notice issued by HMRC. Taxpayers ... Continue Reading

A quick guide to recent additions to the HM Revenue & Customs website.Week ending 23 February What’s new? Errors and mistakes – guidance on how payments made in genuine error are treated under the tax rules for registered pension schemes;Tax Credits - additional information about the severe disability element;Board/lodging adjustment agreements for hotels/guesthouses - summary of responses;The Stamp Duty and Stamp Duty Reserve Tax (Extension of Exceptions relating to Recognised Exchanges) ... Continue Reading

Mark McLaughlin CTA (Fellow) ATT TEP outlines forthcoming deadlines and topical practice points for accountants and tax practitioners.A new approachAs forewarned in ‘Penalties: a new landscape’ (Busy Practitioner, July 2006), HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) are proposing a new approach to penalties, involving a single structure for penalties relating to incorrect tax returns. It will apply to income tax, corporation tax, capital gains tax, VAT and employers PAYE and National Insurance ... Continue Reading

Matthew Hutton MA, CTA (fellow), AIIT, TEP comments on HM Revenue & Customs' guidance in Booklet IR20 following the decision in Gaines-Cooper v HMRC. ContextFollowing the decision in Gaines-Cooper v HMRC (see MTR 12/06 Item 4.2), HMRC have published their response to the decision, broadly confirming that, so far as HMRC are concerned, it is ‘business as usual’, certainly so far as concerns the application of the principles set out in the long-established IR20.  I set out ... Continue Reading

Andrew Needham, Director of VAT Solutions (UK) Ltd, summarises more recent VAT decisions.Court of Appeal says the printed matter supplied with a CD did not make it become zero-ratedA case concerning the VAT liability of 'The Classic Composers CD books' consisting of a hard back cover, in which a plastic case for the CD is affixed, and twelve bound pages of written information on the composer. The VAT Tribunal previously found this to be a standard-rated supply of goods, and all three Court ... Continue Reading

The Taxation Disciplinary Board (TDB) has announced the appointment of Neville Nagler as its first Executive Director.Neville NaglerThe TDB is an independent body set up in 2001 by the Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT) and the Association of Taxation Technicians (ATT) to run the Taxation Disciplinary Scheme. Although financed by them, the TDB operates entirely independently in investigating alleged failures in professional conduct of their members or students and disciplining them as appropriate.The ... Continue Reading

The Government has announced that European Union law enforcement officers and tax authorities are to work together more closely to fight missing trader VAT fraud.At a summit hosted by HMRC, Paymaster General, Dawn Primarolo, addressed representatives from across the European Union.She said "The UK recognises the need to improve our ability to share intelligence and work together on criminal interventions. And, where appropriate, we need to share the evidence gathered through criminal investigations ... Continue Reading

The Government has announced the date for the 2007 Budget.Chancellor Gordon Brown will deliver his 11th Budget statement on Wednesday 21st March 2007.This is likely to be his last Budget speech, as he hopes to succeed Prime Minister Tony Blair later this year. Current speculation suggests that while room for tax cuts will be limited, a strong economy and healthy tax receipts have done much to meet the budget shortfall some had predicted. The Chancellor is expected to confirm new ... Continue Reading

Draft NIC regulations have been laid before Parliament, using powers contained in the National Insurance Contributions Act 2006.The Act provides powers to make NICs regulations that reflect backdated anti-avoidance tax changes that take effect on or after 2 December 2004. The power will allow for NICs liability to be applied to these payments going back to 2 December 2004, if necessary. The Social Security, Occupational Pension Schemes and Statutory Payments (Consequential Provisions) Regulations ... Continue Reading

HMRC's Voluntary and Community Sector Team has launched it’s 2007/8 Grant in Aid funding programme. The initial bidding process will run for six weeks and closes on 30 March 2007.Under this programme HMRC will make awards to Voluntary and Community Sector Organisations, and a total of £2 million is available for each of the next three financial years. It is anticiapted that between 35 and 45 awards will be made in 2007/2008, and the majority of these will be for one year ... Continue Reading