The Autumn ahead is looking busy, with the second Finance Bill of 2017 published on 8 September, followed by draft clauses for Finance Bill 2018 on 13 September (for consultation until 25 October), and the Budget announced for 22 November. The Finance Bill 2018 itself is likely to be published in December, following the Budget.
The second Finance Bill of 2017 contains most of the provisions that were dropped from the Finance Bill published on 20 March, with the exception of clauses on landfill tax and two new Customs enforcement powers. The Bill contains 72 clauses and 18 schedules running to 665 pages, thanks mainly to the two hefty schedules on corporation tax loss relief and interest deductibility, making it likely to become the second longest Finance Act ever.
This Bill is named Finance Bill 2017–19 (being the first Finance Bill of the 2017–19 parliamentary session). When enacted, it will become Finance (No 2) Act 2017.
For the most part, the provisions of the new Finance Bill come into effect on the dates originally intended, with a number of provisions applying retrospectively from April 2017. The implementation date has changed for the following provisions:
· Disclosure of avoidance schemes: VAT and other indirect taxes (clause 66 and Schedule 17), which bring the rules on disclosing VAT avoidance closer to the equivalent direct tax rules and widen the scope to cover most indirect taxes, will now come into effect from 1 January 2018 (and not 1 September 2017).
· Disguised remuneration schemes (relevant tax payments) (new clause 34(1) and (2)) bring into effect the announcement made in the Budget Resolutions para 28 to reverse an unintended consequence of a change introduced in Finance Act 2017, with effect from 21 July 2017.
· Data gathering from money service businesses (clause 69), which extends HMRC’s powers to gather data, will come into effect later than initially planned, as implementation requires the Data-gathering Powers (Relevant Data) (Amendment) Regulations 2017 to be in effect, which the government intends to introduce into Parliament by the end of 2017.
The second reading of the Bill took place in the House of Commons on 12 September. A committee of the whole House will shortly debate:
· Clause 25 (trading profits taxable at the Northern Ireland rate).
The remaining clauses will be considered by a public bill committee, which must finish its work by 26 October.
Since the House rises for the conference recess on 14 September, returning on 9 October, it is assumed that the committee stages will start shortly after 9 October 2017.
Commenting on the Bill, John Cullinane, CIOT tax policy director, said: ‘The most significant measures in the Bill are probably changes to corporation tax and to the regime for non-UK domiciles. The two schedules on corporation tax loss relief and interest deductibility now run to 303 pages between them, not far off half the Bill on their own. The Bill also contains clauses paving the way for Making Tax Digital, substantial changes to the rules for fulfilment businesses and a range of anti-avoidance measures, including penalties for enablers of avoidance schemes.’
‘Despite the pre-election Bill being split in two, the current Bill, assuming it is passed intact, will still be the second longest Finance Act ever … beaten only by the 703 page Finance Act 2012,’ Cullinane added.
The Autumn ahead is looking busy, with the second Finance Bill of 2017 published on 8 September, followed by draft clauses for Finance Bill 2018 on 13 September (for consultation until 25 October), and the Budget announced for 22 November. The Finance Bill 2018 itself is likely to be published in December, following the Budget.
The second Finance Bill of 2017 contains most of the provisions that were dropped from the Finance Bill published on 20 March, with the exception of clauses on landfill tax and two new Customs enforcement powers. The Bill contains 72 clauses and 18 schedules running to 665 pages, thanks mainly to the two hefty schedules on corporation tax loss relief and interest deductibility, making it likely to become the second longest Finance Act ever.
This Bill is named Finance Bill 2017–19 (being the first Finance Bill of the 2017–19 parliamentary session). When enacted, it will become Finance (No 2) Act 2017.
For the most part, the provisions of the new Finance Bill come into effect on the dates originally intended, with a number of provisions applying retrospectively from April 2017. The implementation date has changed for the following provisions:
· Disclosure of avoidance schemes: VAT and other indirect taxes (clause 66 and Schedule 17), which bring the rules on disclosing VAT avoidance closer to the equivalent direct tax rules and widen the scope to cover most indirect taxes, will now come into effect from 1 January 2018 (and not 1 September 2017).
· Disguised remuneration schemes (relevant tax payments) (new clause 34(1) and (2)) bring into effect the announcement made in the Budget Resolutions para 28 to reverse an unintended consequence of a change introduced in Finance Act 2017, with effect from 21 July 2017.
· Data gathering from money service businesses (clause 69), which extends HMRC’s powers to gather data, will come into effect later than initially planned, as implementation requires the Data-gathering Powers (Relevant Data) (Amendment) Regulations 2017 to be in effect, which the government intends to introduce into Parliament by the end of 2017.
The second reading of the Bill took place in the House of Commons on 12 September. A committee of the whole House will shortly debate:
· Clause 25 (trading profits taxable at the Northern Ireland rate).
The remaining clauses will be considered by a public bill committee, which must finish its work by 26 October.
Since the House rises for the conference recess on 14 September, returning on 9 October, it is assumed that the committee stages will start shortly after 9 October 2017.
Commenting on the Bill, John Cullinane, CIOT tax policy director, said: ‘The most significant measures in the Bill are probably changes to corporation tax and to the regime for non-UK domiciles. The two schedules on corporation tax loss relief and interest deductibility now run to 303 pages between them, not far off half the Bill on their own. The Bill also contains clauses paving the way for Making Tax Digital, substantial changes to the rules for fulfilment businesses and a range of anti-avoidance measures, including penalties for enablers of avoidance schemes.’
‘Despite the pre-election Bill being split in two, the current Bill, assuming it is passed intact, will still be the second longest Finance Act ever … beaten only by the 703 page Finance Act 2012,’ Cullinane added.
