HM Treasury is seeking views on proposed changes to the Money Laundering Regulations 2007, which require tax agents to identify and report suspicious activity. Agents who are not members of professional bodies are registered by HMRC.
HMRC have published details of the types of data they hold, and a summary of their approach to transparency, with a view to meeting commitments made in an updated Business Plan.
Switzerland’s has made ‘rapid progress’ to implement a commitment to the internationally agreed standard on exchange of information for tax purposes, the OECD reported.
An HMRC consultation on whether continued publication of statistics relating to ‘time to pay’ arrangements would provide value for money failed to attract a single response from members of the public, other external parties or public bodies.
HMRC have agreed to delay the start of their ‘single compliance process’ pilot for enquiries across a range of taxes, in order to allow the department to produce detailed guidance for agents, the ICAEW Tax Faculty said.
HMRC announced that they are discussing with ‘interested parties’ an initiative to ‘crack down on VAT rule breakers’. The campaign, to be launched later in the summer, will focus on individuals and businesses who are trading above the VAT threshold but have not yet registered for VAT.
Any system of enrolment of professional tax agents must be overseen by an independent body, the CIOT’s new President warned as HMRC launched a consultation on the department’s future relationship with the tax agent community.
Hartley Foster reviews the Supreme Court decision on the procedural issue