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LITRG issues reminder that anyone who has claimed tax credits at all during the 2013/14 tax year must submit a tax credit renewal form by 31 July. Background By 31 July most people who receive tax credits must complete and return their renewal forms, either by post, telephone or, for the first time this year, online. The LITRG cautions that even if you no longer want to claim, or think you are no longer entitled, if you have claimed tax credits at all during the 2013/14 tax year, ... Continue Reading

“Put yourself in the taxpayer’s shoes”, Adjudicator tells HMRC. Now, how do you feel if HMRC cuts your tax code and takes 30 days to tell you..? Well, it never rains but it pours. Yesterday we were busy with the Adjudicator’s report but we did not overlook something that HMRC published a couple of days ago, innocuously entitled: “Maintaining Customer Service Levels in Peak Periods – Draft Legislation” At this stage, you might suppose that this ... Continue Reading

Judy Clements OBE, The Adjudicator for complaints about HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) and The Insolvency Service (The IS), publishes her 2013-14 Annual Report today. This is the 21st report since the formation of the office in May 1993.                Judy Clements writes “I am very pleased to present my Annual Report for the year 1 April 2013 to 31 March 2014.  This is the sixth report I have presented ... Continue Reading

It seems TW’s not alone in being unhappy with HMRC at the moment: the Adjudicator has upheld 9 out of 10 complaints about HMRC in 2013/14. HMRC has published a press release on the Adjudicator’s 2013/14 report – although it has not yet made it to HMRC’s website. The report states that, in its busiest year ever for HMRC complaints, it has upheld 90% of them in favour of the taxpayer – up from 60% in the previous year. So, not only a record number of complaints ... Continue Reading

TW’s Lee Sharpe apologises for failing to find anything positive to say to HMRC – but he has a reasonable excuse… Mark made me promise that I would try to write something positive about HMRC this week: he is concerned that we are at risk of being perceived as “anti-Revenue”, rather than independent and fair. Well, I did try… - and I fear Mark’s own recent attempt suffered a similar fate. If only they ... Continue Reading

TaxationWeb’s Lee Sharpe with a reminder that HMRC has a notoriously – unreasonably – narrow view of penalty appeals under reasonable excuse. Introduction Many readers will be familiar with “reasonable excuse” in the context of penalties for failing to file tax returns or to pay tax on time. But it seems that HMRC sets the bar unreasonably high – and Tribunals have been telling HMRC so for some time. The Legislation The penalty regime for Self ... Continue Reading

You may have heard talk about the ‘enquiry window’, meaning the time limit for HMRC to begin their enquiries into a tax return. The length of this ‘window’ varies – for example, the ‘window’ for a return of Stamp Duty Land Tax is nine months after the return is filed, but the commonest ‘window’ you will come across is that for self assessment returns (income tax, capital gains tax, and corporation tax), and this window is 12 months from the ... Continue Reading

Most people are aware of the this relief, which allows you to sell your home without having to pay capital gains tax on any profit that you make.   There are many rules associated with this relief, but it is a very valuable exemption as, for the majority of people, the purchase of their home is the biggest investment they ever make.   Where you own more than one home you can choose which one is your main residence, as long as you are living in the property selected as a home. ... Continue Reading

There is a huge and growing late payment problem in the UK with £55 billion currently owed to SMEs. To put this figure into a wider context, it is greater than the amount collected each year in annual corporation tax receipts. Since last summer, late payment has rocketed 52%with the average small business now owed £11,358 in late invoices alone. Traditionally, many solicitors have not focused on providing a debt recovery solution for micro-SMEs due ... Continue Reading

Formula 1 racing giant McLaren has lost its claim that a £32 million fine imposed against it by the sport’s governing body should be tax deductible. McLaren took legal action after HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) disagreed that it could deduct the finein computing its taxable profits.However, a tax tribunal has now supported HMRC’s view. HMRC’s Director General of Business Tax, Jim Harra, welcomed the ruling: “We’re very pleased the Upper Tribunal ... Continue Reading