The government is looking at ways to incentivised users of vans to go green. According to the statistics, less than one in every two hundred vans (0.4%) bought in 2016/17 was an ultra-low emission model. To tackle this issue, the government is seeking views on reforms to vehicle excise duty, currently charged at a flat rate of £250 for all vans, to make it more affordable to buy greener models. In a related matter, the reduced duty rate for red diesel – believed to be holding back the use of cleaner fuels by non-road vehicles and machinery in towns and [...]

HMRC is launching a new consultation to make sure that people who effectively work as employees pay the right amount of tax. As announced at the Autumn Budget, the consultation will look at how to increase compliance with the existing ‘off-payroll’ working rules. These rules mean that contractors such as IT and management consultants who work through their own company, but are in practice employed by a third party, pay the right tax as employees. Evidence suggests that the tax will be lost of up to £1.2bn a year by 2023 as a result of people getting the rules wrong, [...]

There is something uniquely satisfying about a tax refund. Of course, you must first overpay tax before it can be refunded, but there is a universal joy in receiving a cheque or direct payment to your bank account from HMRC. Occasionally, HMRC will volunteer the information, they may even send you a formal assessment and advise you that a refund can be claimed. A more likely prompt will come from your accountant as we have an eye for these things… A selection of situations that may lead to an overpayment are published on HMRC’s website, and we have to say, [...]

We have all heard of individuals who have been affected by the nefarious antics of loan sharks, lenders that breach the normal fiscal rules by taking advantage of needy persons who do not qualify for support from mainstream banking sources. The government has announced additional funding to crack down on this activity. Their announcement, published 25 April, is worth a mention. Loan sharks face a fresh crackdown today (25 April), with more funding to tackle unlawful lending, and an increase in the amount of money seized from loan sharks to support those most vulnerable to their nasty tactics. over £5.5 [...]

A typical two parent, two child family can claim £34.40 per week in Child Benefit (CB). In a tax year this would amount to £1,789. Often, this becomes part of the family housekeeping and is spent. Consider Mary and John and their two children. John collects the CB, it is paid into his current account and used to fund the household budget. John elected to stay at home and look after the management of the family. Mary is a solicitor and has a full-time job in a local practice. In the current tax year, Mary will receive bonuses that increase [...]

Legislation has been introduced to reduce the present maximum six-day clearance process, to just one day. Banks presently send the payer’s cheque to the clearing banks to facilitate clearance. Under new rules, that will apply from October 2018, this will be reduced to one-day by sending a digital image of the cheque for clearance. To do this, banks will use a common Image Clearing System (ICS). This should all but eliminate the present, confusing process where cheques are debited to your statement but may not be cleared to draw against for days. Following consultation with interested parties HM Treasury have [...]

For those of us who are reluctant to see our home address on publicly available websites such as that provided by Companies House, they will be pleased by a recent change to data suppression laws. This should help you remove your home address from publicly available company documents in certain cases. Companies House have announced: The law has been changed to make it easier to remove your home address from the company register. This applies to company directors and others such as secretaries, people with significant control and LLP members, whose home address is publicly available on company documents.  To remove [...]

According to government sources HMRC are asking online market places to sign an “agreement” to keep their users the right side of the law. In a recent announcement HMRC said: “… the agreement will help online market place platforms meet their responsibility to ensure their sellers understand the tax rules, and prevent fraud taking place on their watch.” We assume that the intention is to discourage users setting up shop and avoiding their VAT dues by avoiding registration. An online marketplace is defined in VAT legislation as a website, or any other means by which information is made available over the [...]

When you complete your tax return for 2017-18, make sure you consider the following expenses. Sometimes they are overlooked. Approved subscriptions you are required to pay to professional organisations. You must have membership to do your job or it’s helpful for your work. You can’t claim tax back on fees or subscriptions you’ve paid to professional organisations not approved by HMRC or for: life membership subscriptions, fees or subscriptions you haven’t paid, e.g. your employer has paid for them. Approved organisations are listed at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/professional-bodies-approved-for-tax-relief-list-3/approved-professional-organisations-and-learned-societies. If your employer pays less than HMRC’s approved mileage rates to…

This is the time of year that employers and employees deal with the reporting of Benefits in kind. Taxing times… The provision and use of company cars features in many of these returns, both the use of the car, and if provided, the cost of any fuel provided by the employer for private mileage. What may not be appreciated is that there is such an item as an exempt use of a car. To be exempt, an employee must use the car in one of the following ways:   Privately owned cars - You don’t have to pay anything on [...]