Following the announcement of pension reforms in the Budget 2014, which include fundamental changes to the ways that members of defined contribution pension schemes can take their benefits at retirement, the government published the Taxation of Pensions Bill 2014. HMRC has now published a briefing note, which provides an overview of the measures included in the bill and aims to explain the impact of the proposed legislation in each of the seven schedules.
HMRC has released the eighteenth Employment-Related Securities Bulletin, which provides further information on the online annual returns for employee share schemes to be used from the 2014/15 tax year. The updates include:
The government is proceeding with plans for a public register of people with significant control over companies following consultation, and will legislate for this in the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill that is currently going through Parliament. The Department for Business, Innovation & Skills is now consulting on how information on the register to indicate how a person exercises control over a company should be recorded, and to exclude some information from the register, such as home addresses, dates of birth and details of people who would be at risk of serious harm if they were to be identified. Comments are invited by 9 December.
HMRC has issued guidance on the tax position on redress payments for interest rate hedging products (IRHPs) following a review of the way some banks sold these products, which resulted in some customers being entitled to or in receipt of redress payments. These redress payments are taxable as income, with the interest taxed in the year of receipt as interest income. However, there are a few cases where capital gains treatment could apply, e.g. where: the business has stopped trading; the product was for a non-business loan; or the product was a hedging product and its fair value was recognised in the accounts.
HMRC has published a second set of draft regulations, the Finance Act 2014 (Schedule 34 Prescribed Matters) Regulations, SI 2015/Draft, for technical consultation until 27 November 2014 as part of the promoters of tax avoidance schemes (POTAS) legislation. The initial draft regulations were published in early October 2014. The new draft regulations define the type of misconduct, actions and penalties that will lead to a promoter meeting the POTAS threshold conditions in relation to disciplinary action by a professional body or regulatory authority. If a promoter of tax avoidance schemes meets these threshold conditions, and it is determined by an authorised officer of HMRC that this is significant, such a promoter would be issued with a conduct notice. Conduct notices last for up to two years and require promoters to change their behaviour in relation to the schemes that they promote. The regulations also add two additional bodies to the list of professional bodies set out in the primary legislation.
HMRC has now published an updated list of avoidance schemes on which users may receive a notice to make an accelerated payment of tax. Phil Berwick, partner at law firm Irwin Mitchell, said: ‘[Affected] taxpayers may be tempted to settle using one of HMRC’s disclosure opportunities, but that might not be the best route for an individual. It is vital that they make an informed decision and taking specialist legal advice early on is essential in ensuring all of the options are understood.’.
HMRC has announced that its corporation tax online service has now been improved to offer the option of simplified filing for micro-entity customers following an EU directive. Micro-entities now have the option to file simplified accounts with HMRC, and from mid-November 2014 companies will also be able to send basic micro-entity accounts to Companies House using HMRC’s filing software. HMRC’s online filing software allows certain companies to choose to prepare and publish simplified financial statements (profit & loss account and balance sheets) if:
To file basic micro-entity accounts with Companies House, companies must meet two out of the three criteria above.
The EC has published a working paper setting out proposals for how to ensure a simpler, more effective and fraud-proof VAT system tailored to the single market in the EU. The document sets out what the EC considers to be five possible options to achieve these goals as listed below:
HMRC has issued the following on its website:
Following the announcement of pension reforms in the Budget 2014, which include fundamental changes to the ways that members of defined contribution pension schemes can take their benefits at retirement, the government published the Taxation of Pensions Bill 2014. HMRC has now published a briefing note, which provides an overview of the measures included in the bill and aims to explain the impact of the proposed legislation in each of the seven schedules.
HMRC has released the eighteenth Employment-Related Securities Bulletin, which provides further information on the online annual returns for employee share schemes to be used from the 2014/15 tax year. The updates include:
The government is proceeding with plans for a public register of people with significant control over companies following consultation, and will legislate for this in the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill that is currently going through Parliament. The Department for Business, Innovation & Skills is now consulting on how information on the register to indicate how a person exercises control over a company should be recorded, and to exclude some information from the register, such as home addresses, dates of birth and details of people who would be at risk of serious harm if they were to be identified. Comments are invited by 9 December.
HMRC has issued guidance on the tax position on redress payments for interest rate hedging products (IRHPs) following a review of the way some banks sold these products, which resulted in some customers being entitled to or in receipt of redress payments. These redress payments are taxable as income, with the interest taxed in the year of receipt as interest income. However, there are a few cases where capital gains treatment could apply, e.g. where: the business has stopped trading; the product was for a non-business loan; or the product was a hedging product and its fair value was recognised in the accounts.
HMRC has published a second set of draft regulations, the Finance Act 2014 (Schedule 34 Prescribed Matters) Regulations, SI 2015/Draft, for technical consultation until 27 November 2014 as part of the promoters of tax avoidance schemes (POTAS) legislation. The initial draft regulations were published in early October 2014. The new draft regulations define the type of misconduct, actions and penalties that will lead to a promoter meeting the POTAS threshold conditions in relation to disciplinary action by a professional body or regulatory authority. If a promoter of tax avoidance schemes meets these threshold conditions, and it is determined by an authorised officer of HMRC that this is significant, such a promoter would be issued with a conduct notice. Conduct notices last for up to two years and require promoters to change their behaviour in relation to the schemes that they promote. The regulations also add two additional bodies to the list of professional bodies set out in the primary legislation.
HMRC has now published an updated list of avoidance schemes on which users may receive a notice to make an accelerated payment of tax. Phil Berwick, partner at law firm Irwin Mitchell, said: ‘[Affected] taxpayers may be tempted to settle using one of HMRC’s disclosure opportunities, but that might not be the best route for an individual. It is vital that they make an informed decision and taking specialist legal advice early on is essential in ensuring all of the options are understood.’.
HMRC has announced that its corporation tax online service has now been improved to offer the option of simplified filing for micro-entity customers following an EU directive. Micro-entities now have the option to file simplified accounts with HMRC, and from mid-November 2014 companies will also be able to send basic micro-entity accounts to Companies House using HMRC’s filing software. HMRC’s online filing software allows certain companies to choose to prepare and publish simplified financial statements (profit & loss account and balance sheets) if:
To file basic micro-entity accounts with Companies House, companies must meet two out of the three criteria above.
The EC has published a working paper setting out proposals for how to ensure a simpler, more effective and fraud-proof VAT system tailored to the single market in the EU. The document sets out what the EC considers to be five possible options to achieve these goals as listed below:
HMRC has issued the following on its website:
