Tax Plus Blog - Income tax
Employees benefit
Date: 22nd March, 2013 | Author: Justin Cobb | Comments: 0
Help with child care costs The Government’s commitment to providing help with childcare costs is a welcome boost for working families, albeit the assistance is being phased in from Autumn 2015. The relief will initially help families with children under age 5 and will be extended over time to include children under 12. To be eligible for the relief, both parents must work (with each earning below £150,000) and they cannot be receiving tax credits or the universal credit. The current proposal, which is subject to consultation, is that the Government will pay 20% toward child care costs up to £6,000...
Tax avoidance – the debate looks set to continue for a while
Date: 31st January, 2013 | Author: Cathy Corns | Comments: 0
The PAC has now concluded its session with the Heads of Tax from PWC, Deloittes, KPMG and Ernst & Young with, I suspect, little change in the opinions from either side. Having watched the questioning I was impressed by the Heads of Tax. Unsurprisingly they are bright, mentally alert people with a strong client service ethos and a desire to abide by the law. They were, I have to say, very well prepared and were robust in expressing their opinions and prepared to defend their tax practices. I think the issue has been triggered by the...
Some good news at last
Date: 24th August, 2012 | Author: Cathy Corns | Comments: 0
You may recall HMRC’s proposals to restrict relief against income tax for individuals in certain circumstances with regard to, among other things, losses and interest relief. I am pleased to say that, following a consultation, the government has changed its mind! The responses to the consultation pointed out that HMRC already has provisions to restrict relief for losses for non-active partners and is also in the process of setting up a general anti-abuse law. It was felt that this should be sufficient to manage any perceived abuse in terms of income tax reliefs. The...
Download Mercer & Hole’s summer edition of Tax Plus
Date: 25th July, 2012 | Author: Helen Price | Comments: 0
In this Summer edition of Tax Plus, we are delighted to bring you a selection of topical tax issues. Since our March 2012 Budget Special edition, we have seen further details from the government on pre-announced measures due to come into effect from April 2013. The most controversial of these is the plan to tax ownership of residential properties held within certain structures and we have prepared an article on this to explore the implications for you in greater detail. We also have articles on other government announcements in relation to placing additional PAYE obligations on certain companies and resurrecting the Statutory...
Mansworth v Jelley - a change of heart…
Date: 25th September, 2009 | Author: Lisa Spearman | Comments: 0
Once upon a time a long time ago , well 2003, anyway, there was a rather odd tax case on share options which led to the situation in which, on the exercise of share options, subject to income tax, followed by a sale of those shares, there was an effective double counting of the base cost. This meant that the fortunate taxpayers realised capital losses on the sale for tax purposes (although not suffering a commercial loss). The sums involved were often large and although questions were asked at the time, HMRC was insistent that this was the correct treatment. Unexpectedly, HMRC...
HMRC to accept credit cards
Date: 6th January, 2009 | Author: Barry Hallam | Comments: 0
In a recent posting on sister blog SME Plus, it was highlighted that effective from 9 December 2008 taxpayers can settle their self-assessment tax bills by credit card (for an extra fee of 1.25%)....
Second Tax Amnesty - It’s definitely on its way
Date: 12th November, 2008 | Author: Barry Hallam | Comments: 0
HM Revenue have confirmed to the Chartered Institute of Taxation, and other members of the Compliance Reform Forum, that there will be a second Offshore Disclosure Facility, or “opportunity” as it now being referred to as, some time next year. The exact details have yet to be agreed and HMRC are enlisting the help of the CIOT and other professional bodies to make a contribution to the design of the new opportunity” The HMRC statement on this can be found on the CIOT website. There may be a more public announcement in the Pre Budget Report. ...
Reduction in time limit for repayment claims
Date: 31st October, 2008 | Author: Lisa Spearman | Comments: 0
This is a general reminder that the period in which repayment claims can be made is to reduce from 6 years to 4 years. The Irish revenue have issued a reminder for their purposes and it is important that UK claims for older years are made as soon as possible to avoid missing the cut off date in the UK. ...
Second Tax Amnesty - will it ever arrive?
Date: 16th October, 2008 | Author: Barry Hallam | Comments: 0
Back in July we reported that a second “Tax Amnesty” was being seriously considered by HM Revenue & Customs. Since then we have heard nothing further until a report in Accountancy Age which confirms that HMRC are still considering this but are looking for a high profile prosecution to act as deterrent but are apparently having difficulty finding one. With a new Chief Executive, Lesley Strathie, in charge at HMRC a second amnesty might be one of her first announcements. Alternatively it might turn up in the 2008 Pre Budget Report which is now expected to be in mid...
Tax Amnesty - here we go again!
Date: 28th July, 2008 | Author: Barry Hallam | Comments: 0
According to the Sunday Times HM Revenue & Customs are planning another go at trying to persuade those with undeclared overseas bank accounts to come forward. This time they are not expected to be as generous as the first time and in some cases they will be tough. Dave Hartnett, the acting Chairman of HMRC is quoted as saying: “Some people will go to jail — I have no doubt about that, for example where they have lied to us during a previous investigation. We do not tolerate that at all.” There are no details as yet of...
