Today I learnt a new acronym – the WMS – or ‘written ministerial statement’. Most people who know me professionally understand that my vocabulary is full of these and I am pleased to now have a new one. Whilst typically we are deluged with tax impact assessments and consultation documents today we have had to fight our way through a tax avoidance note, some draft legislation on structural buildings allowances and the apprenticeship levy – plus the WMS. The WMS is largely a script from which the Chancellor read his speech – but the last three pages do cover a range of tax measures that we s ..read more

Whilst my colleagues deal with what was in the Spring Statement, let me deal with what wasn’t. When we were last analysing the Chancellor’s words and documents the main issue was entrepreneurs’ relief (subsequently absorbing many hours of my life). What was noticeable at the time was that the Chancellor warmed us up to more possible changes to ER, and indicated that a no-deal Brexit would likely lead to an emergency budget in the Spring with a hint of a tax rise or two. To that end, ever cautious, we’ve encouraged clients to get deals done as soon as practically possible to secure their ER ..read more

Changes to the way customers account for VAT on certain building and construction services will be introduced from 1 October 2019.     In a nutshell, the changes mean that a UK VAT registered customer in receipt of standard or reduced rate services that are normally reported through the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) must account for VAT as a domestic reverse charge rather than the supplier account for VAT on its supply. The domestic reverse charge is a mechanism whereby the customer accounts for VAT as though it made the supply and then is able to deduct the VAT as input tax – this wi ..read more

As an experienced ex-Tax Inspector with over 27 years of experience working within HMRC, I have been looking to utilise my knowledge and skills built up from over 20 years of working in an enforcement and compliance role. When HMRC open and work an enquiry, the enquiry officer concerned has to follow various guidelines and procedures laid down. Failure to adhere to these guidelines and procedures can prove fatal to the enquiry itself. Since joining Francis Clark Tax Consultancy (FCTC) shortly after leaving HMRC, I have seen a few instances where HMRC have taken action by issuing a S9A noti ..read more

In recent years, SDLT has undergone several changes, leading to confusion and a more urgent requirement for specialist advice to determine the right amount of SDLT due. Solicitor or specialist conveyancers deal with the majority of property purchases, but in many cases their scope of work does not include providing advice on the stamp duty land tax (SDLT) liability. As a result buyers could be missing an opportunity to reduce their SDLT bill, either because they could be eligible for specific statutory reliefs or perhaps because they have paid the three percent surcharge where it is not ap ..read more

In the lead up to every Budget day there is always some debate about whether or not the Chancellor of the day will change the CGT regime in respect of business assets that has (usually) given rise to a 10% rate. For a long time that was ‘business asset taper relief’, there was something of a hiatus in 2008 when we moved to a flat rate of 18%, and then hurriedly back to 10% with the introduction of entrepreneurs’ relief (ER) in the same year. Whilst others debated a change in the rate it has long been my personal view that a twelve month holding period was too short to deserve the best tax ..read more

Driven by a review from the Office of Tax Simplification, there were a number of Budget announcements which will impact on the timing of tax relief for investing in property and plant. Although the announcements sounded like a tax giveaway, the Government’s impact assessment shows that it expects net tax receipts to rise as a result of these measures, so they are not as generous as they might first seem. First the headline grabbing good news. The annual investment allowance which is available to all businesses if they have enough profit and spend enough money is being massively increased f ..read more

A common misconception is that it is possible to sell your home and for that not to be fully exempt from capital gains tax. There are a number of circumstances where this may be the case. The Budget introduced the tightening of two common extensions to the relief which is likely to increase the number of sales of homes liable to capital gains tax, or where more tax will be due. The legislation, as interpreted by any number of tax cases over the years, has led to a complex and clunky, albeit highly valuable, tax relief against the gains arising on the sale of a property that is or has been ..read more

Brexit negotiations have had a quiet few days in the run-up to the Budget, with Westminster focused on what the Chancellor would say about the plans for leaving the European Union. And the answer was… well, not much really. At the weekend, Philip Hammond was at pains to point out that in the event of a no-deal Brexit he’d need to present another (emergency) Budget to deal with the consequences that would ensue. Today, he half-heartedly announced that cash available for no-deal preparation would be increased to £2bn, increasing the amount announced at 2017 Budget by a further £500k, but gav ..read more

Last year the government transferred the burden of determining IR35 status from the freelancer to public sector bodies. As a result, we have seen many more freelancers being taxed as employees and some public body sector ‘employers’ treating all freelancers under the regime. The IR35 regime refers to a budget press notice from when the tax provision was introduced 15 years ago. It has never quite worked as the government wished. The concern HMRC have is that the freelancer is using a company to get around tax and national insurance obligations and this has been a major issue with some well ..read more