The stated intention of the proposals is to prevent wealthy individuals using reliefs year after year and to reduce their income tax bills to zero. But they would not be the only ones affected by these measures.
Why it would not be a great idea to make listed companies publish details of their tax affairs.
New tax breaks were announced for high-end TV, animation and games in the Budget, welcome news for the creative industries. The TV, animation and games industries should respond to the consultation paper to ensure a workable tax credit is introduced.
There remains considerable uncertainty in English law regarding HMRC’s ability to use criminally obtained evidence when pursuing taxpayers in respect of their concealed offshore income.
When the new statutory residence test (SRT) is introduced, the government intends to abolish ‘ordinary residence’ for tax purposes. However, overseas workdays relief (OWR) will continue to exempt the unremitted foreign earnings of employees temporarily resident in the UK. But the qualifying conditions will restrict severely the number of employees able to benefit.
The debate surrounding tax avoidance and morality may be a red herring. The real question every tax adviser should be asking is: are these schemes good advice in the round?
The CJEU has ruled that tax measures may avoid categorisation as State aid if the State acts as a private investor. This ruling casts a new light on the application of the market economy investor principle to tax measures, but is unlikely to open Pandora's box.
The consultation on penalties associated with the real time information (RTI) regime suggests that HMRC is expecting a large number of penalties. Rather than looking at how to punish people for getting it wrong, it would have been better for HMRC to iron out some of the many remaining issues surrounding RTI to help people get it right.
The government will reap what it sows. Bolder and more decisive action on tax incentives is needed to help promote the UK venture capital industry.
At a seminar organised by Christian Aid and Tolley, ten leading tax professionals give their recommendations on how to design the tax system for a fictional developing country.