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RSM's Scott Harwood considers HMRC's continuing battle with the Tax Gap. A former Top Gear mechanic, eco-investors, a charity treasurer and fraudsters selling research into an HIV cure were among the list of over 600 individuals successfully prosecuted by HMRC in 2019. HMRC recently published a list of its top 10 prosecutions in 2019 which include: A Berkshire-gang jailed for a total of 46 years for a £34 million supply-chain VAT fraud and laundering £87 million from selling illicit ... Continue Reading

BKL considers a recent tax case with potentially important CGT implications for taxpayers who buy property off-plan. The Capital Gains Tax (“CGT”) code is based on some pretty fundamental concepts. To apply the legislation, it’s necessary to have a clear idea of (for example) precisely what asset, if any, you have acquired or disposed of, and what expenditure, if any, you have incurred on acquiring or enhancing it. Sometimes, even half a century after CGT was introduced, these ... Continue Reading

BKL explains a recent tax case that highlights that the burden of proof is sometimes on the taxpayer, and sometimes on HMRC. The case of Cooper (more fully Golamreza Qolaminejite aka Anthony Cooper v HMRC [2019] UKFTT 0713 (TC) – we’ll stick with just “Cooper”) has to do with an investigation into the taxpayer’s business affairs. It ranges over a good deal of ground and a number of years, but the point that interests us here is the burden of proof. Or rather, the burdens ... Continue Reading

RSM UK's James Gransby looks at the alternatives open to the government when fixing the NHS Pension Problem caused by the Tapered Annual Allowance for High-Income Individuals at FA 2004 s 228ZA, inserted by F(No2)A Sch 4. The Conservatives pledged in their election manifesto that they would take measures to address the NHS pensions crisis. On 18 December they said that they would announce their solution on Budget day (11 March). What options might they be considering? Scrapping the tapered annual ... Continue Reading

RSM UK's Zoe Martin looks at PAYE changes to be implemented in the coming 2020 tax year, in relation to the Employment Allowance. Restriction A new restriction on the Employment allowance will be introduced from 6 April 2020. Going forwards, employers will only be eligible for the Employment Allowance if their total Secondary Class 1 NIC liability in the previous tax year was lower than £100,000. Another result of restricting the Employment Allowance is that, from April 2020, the Employment ... Continue Reading

The Chancellor has announced that the next UK Budget will be held on Wednesday 11 March 2020. This is the Budget that was postponed from 6 November 2019, basically because the previous government could not get stuff done. So, now that the 'new' government can get stuff done, it clearly makes sense to take an extra couple of months to deliver the 2019 Budget. To what extent the original draft provisions of the Finance Bill will be revised, cancelled or supplemented is currently unclear. ... Continue Reading

Peter Vaines with a roundup of recent tax cases that are relevant to tax practitioners.  IHT: Interests in Possession The case of M Vincent v HMRC [2019] UKFTT 0657 (TC) examined an interesting and frequently recurring point about whether the wording in a Will created an Interest in Possession. The issue was whether the drafting of the Will of Mrs Vincent’s mother, Mary Hadden, conferred a life interest in her share of the family home on her brother, Ian Thom. Mrs Hadden was beneficially ... Continue Reading

BKL reports on a recent VAT case with implications for digital content delivery. In News Corp UK & Ireland Ltd v HMRC [2019] UKUT 0404 (TCC) the question before the Upper Tribunal was essentially a simple one: is a “digital newspaper” (specifically, digital versions of The Times, The Sunday Times, The Sun and The Sun on Sunday) nonetheless a “newspaper” and thus zero-rated for VAT purposes? Or is that accolade restricted to the printed folding paper things of the kind ... Continue Reading

BKL considers some of the possible CGT developments in the coming Budget - particularly Entrepreneurs' Relief. We suggested before the General Election that clients might consider taking action in advance of 12 December to forestall possible tax changes under a Labour Party government, especially in regard to Capital Gains Tax (“CGT”). Labour’s electoral collapse means that widescale tax increases are off the agenda for the next few years.  However, although the Conservative ... Continue Reading

Lee Sharpe looks at the findings and recommendations of the recently published Independent Loan Charge Review, together with the government response. (See 'Footnote' for more recent addendum). Introduction and Background In simple terms, the Loan Charge is the government’s attempt to claw back tax and NICs on tax avoidance arrangements that HMRC failed to assess when they were made, so they would otherwise be “out of time” for HMRC to assess the outstanding tax and NICs now. Again, ... Continue Reading