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IN BRIEF

Views on recent developments in tax.

In our continuing series examining the tax issues which make the headlines in the national press, Heather Self considers the recent furore over national insurance contributions. Class 2 or not class 2? That is the question.

Two sets of tax statistics published by HMRC provide important insights into the health of corporate UK.

Is it right that the default surcharge under VATA 1994 s 59 cannot be adjusted to take account of a later s 80 claim?

The Office of Tax Simplification’s recent review of capital allowances found ‘no conclusive case’ for replacing the current rules with accounting depreciation. But might a solution that encourages energy efficiency be one area for reform?

A tribunal decision highlights a flaw in the preparations for making tax digital.

Newspapers (remember those?) and websites have reported in varying degrees of detail the success of Siobhan McLaughlin in the Supreme Court ([2018] UKSC 48). This was the case in which an unmarried mother whose long-term partner had sadly died claimed that she ought to be entitled to the same widowed parent’s allowance as would have been paid to her had she and her partner been married.

Entrepreneurs’ relief is one of the most expensive reliefs for HMRC and it is forecast to cost £2.7bn in 2018. With a think tank recently expressing the view that ER is ‘quite likely the worst tax relief in the UK’, is it possible that the chancellor might reach a similar conclusion and introduce changes in the next Budget?

The Office of Tax Simplification’s recent review of capital allowances found ‘no conclusive case’ for replacing the current rules with accounting depreciation, reports Steve Smith (JLL). But might one area for reform be a solution that encourages energy efficiency? 

HMRC’s recent guidance on mutuality of obligation overlooks the higher level of obligation required. Mutuality of obligation (MOO) has been seen by the courts as the cornerstone of an employee relationship for many years. It has been the subject of...
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