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The 5thof December 2013 may well linger in the public consciousness for reason more momentous than the Chancellor’s latest Autumn Statement. But to the matter at hand. With party politics clearly much in his mind, the Chancellor had a difficult balancing act to perform with this year’s Autumn Statement: try to woo voters with some popular measures but avoid giving too much away or they’ll relax and let someone else in, come the day. Revival (of sorts) of the transferable Married ... Continue Reading

LITRG welcomes amendments to proposals tackling businesses that avoid paying employers’ National Insurance for their UK-based workers, but worries unwary low-paid workers might still be snared in temporary worker ‘schemes’. Background Offshore employer arrangements have been growing. Around 100,000 UK-based workers are employed by offshore entities – mainly in positions such as supply teacher or locum nurse – but LITRG is aware of many low-paid, unskilled, ... Continue Reading

LITRG welcomes HMRC’s launch of their new ‘deemed consent’ service for income tax enquiries, effective from 12 November 2013. Introduction Along with other voluntary and community sector organisations, LITRG has long voiced concern that the current system for processing security and authorisation is antiquated and cumbersome. It is unfair that those who help the disadvantaged should be faced with onerous form filling, confusing security passwords and long delays. ... Continue Reading

Ray Chidell, author and director of Claritax Books, notes that the changing tax rules for commercial property owners create new risks for both buyers and sellers. Valuable Tax Relief Capital allowances for plant and machinery are familiar to most businesses, offering tax relief for everything from computers to cars. While the basic rules are not too complex, the difficulties multiply when it comes to claiming allowances for one valuable category of expenditure, namely fixtures in commercial ... Continue Reading

Business start-ups can take part in four free live tax webinars run by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) on 7 December as part of Small Business Saturday. The day has been set up as a chance for small businesses to promote themselves and generate trade. HMRC Start-up Saturday webinar programme, between 10am and 5pm, is aimed at new and prospective businesses. Each live webinar lasts an hour and gives the opportunity for questions. There are 4.8 million small businesses in the UK and more ... Continue Reading

“Cashbacks” and trade-ins are not the same thing for VAT, as Rob McCann of the VAT People explains. It is quite common for businesses to exchange goods or services with each other. This is sometimes an exchange of goods or services with a like for like value, or sometimes payment is made for a supply by part cash payment and part reciprocal services/goods. It is equally common for the same businesses to assume that there are no VAT consequences for such an arrangement as there ... Continue Reading

HMRC has published Central Agent Authorisation Team Turnaround Times, warning that posted 64-8s should be sent to HMRC no later than 23 December, and applications for a Self Assessment registration should be sent by 20 December, so as to give CAAT sufficient time to process and/or issue the tax reference necessary in order to make a valid tax return online. This is, of course, one of the busiest times of the year for agents in the run up to the filing deadline of 31 January. TaxationWeb’s ... Continue Reading

Julie Butler reflects on the implications of the new rules for IHT and debts, introduced by Finance Act 2013. The Inheritance Tax Position In calculating Inheritance Tax (IHT) liabilities, relief for loans and debts have been available in a very favourable order of set-off for businesses. In principle it was possible to secure maximum IHT relief by securing business loans against non-business assets, ie against private assets. It was then possible to obtain Business Property Relief (BPR), ... Continue Reading

When a commercial property is sold, part of the selling price will include the value of fixtures which have qualified for capital allowances in the seller’s business. If the proceeds of sale on those assets exceed the written down value of the ‘pool’ there will be a ‘balancing charge’ which is treated as a negative allowance and capital allowances previously claimed will be clawed back. A ‘s198 claim’ can be made between the two parties that enables ... Continue Reading

There is a limited concession to extend PPR relief should the owner not move into his only or main residence on purchase. This covers situations where the owner: • buys land on which the house is to be built; • has the house altered or decorated before moving in; • remains in the first property whilst it is still on the market, provided that when that property is sold the second property becomes the owner’s only or main residence. In these circumstances, the ... Continue Reading