News & Events

The BCC has urged the government to extend skills training in light of the publication of research which showed that one in five companies are considering making redundancies as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The BCC has stressed concerns that older workers could go unutilised unless support for retraining is put into place immediately. The BCC survey, which polled over 250 businesses with employees still on furlough, revealed that one in five are planning to make staff redundant…

HMRC has urged taxpayers to stay alert to the threat of digital scams and scammers claiming to represent HMRC. Research published by HMRC revealed that the number of tax-related scams has doubled in the past 12 months. In the past year HMRC has received more than one million referrals from the UK public in regard to suspicious contact, with many fraudsters offering ‘tax refunds’ or ‘rebates’. The research showed that HMRC received 441,954 reports of phone scams and more than…

The national roll-out of the new £100 spending limit for contactless card payments will begin from 15 October 2021, banking trade body UK Finance has confirmed. The decision to raise the contactless limit from £45 to £100 was made by HM Treasury and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) following a public consultation and discussions with both the retail and banking sectors. It follows on from the successful increase in the limit from £30 to £45 in April 2020. From 15…

The CIOT has warned that some claims being made by firms offering help with Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) refunds are too good to be true. The CIOT says an increasing number of firms are contacting buyers of properties after completion of a purchase, suggesting that SDLT has been overpaid. The most common issues raised are that multiple-dwellings relief (MDR) has not been claimed or that the buyer could have paid non-residential rates of SDLT (which are generally lower than…

HMRC has published a consultation that outlines plans to implement reporting rules for digital platforms first put forward by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). In February 2020, the OECD consulted on proposed rules setting out how digital platforms should collect information about the income of sellers and report it to tax authorities. Under the new rules, websites and applications based in the UK will be required to report sellers’ income arising in the previous calendar year to…

HMRC has published a policy paper outlining the forthcoming changes to the penalties for late payment and interest harmonisation for taxpayers. The government intends to reform sanctions for late submission and late payments to make them ‘fairer and more consistent across taxes’. Initially, the changes will apply to VAT and Income Tax Self Assessment (ITSA). The changes will see interest charges and repayment interest harmonised to bring VAT in line with other tax regimes, including ITSA. Under the new regime,…

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) is being wound down on 30 September 2021 and data published by HMRC has revealed that 1.9 million workers remain on furlough. The data showed that the number of employees furloughed on the CJRS fell by 590,000 during June. The total number of furloughed workers is 1.9 million. The data also revealed that younger workers have been leaving furlough most quickly, whilst one in ten workers aged 65 or over were on furlough. For…

HMRC has updated the guidance on salary sacrifice. HMRC has removed the guidance on ‘Salary sacrifice arrangements set up before 6 April 2017’ as the transitional arrangements for calculating the value of the benefit came to an end on 5 April 2021. A salary sacrifice arrangement is an agreement to reduce an employee’s entitlement to cash pay, usually in return for a non-cash benefit. Employers can set up a salary sacrifice arrangement by changing the terms of the employee’s employment…

In response to HMRC’s consultation on simplifying the rules relating to land and property, the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) has urged HMRC to abolish all VAT exemptions and remove all VAT options. The ICAEW stated that the VAT rules regarding land and property are ‘unnecessarily complex’ and stand to benefit from ‘significant simplification’. The Institute also highlighted the need for a more fundamental review of VAT exemptions. In its response, the ICAEW also argued that…

The Government has published draft clauses for the next Finance Bill, which broadly cover pre-announced policy changes. The Government is committed, where possible, to publishing most tax legislation in draft for technical consultation before the relevant Finance Bill is laid before Parliament. The consultation draft clauses is intended to make sure that the legislation works as intended. Each measure comprises A tax information and impact note (TIIN) Draft legislation An explanatory note which provides a more detailed guide to the…