The above newly issued Brief gives an overview of HMRC's refreshed guidance on the application of the Senior Accounting Officer (SAO) rules.

By way of reminder the SAO is the director or officer of a company who, in the company's reasonable opinion, has overall responsibility for the company's financial accounting arrangements

HMRC stress that changes have been made to every section of this guidance which can be accessed at:-http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/saogmanual/index.htm. In addition to changes in terminology and structure, there are also some significant changes in policy.

Specifically, the main updates, in terms of HMRC's view, are in respect of:

• The application of SAO rules during insolvency procedures. HMRC now believes that the SAO rules do apply in most cases where insolvency procedures were/are underway.
• The meaning of the turnover test for banks and insurance companies.
• HMRC no longer believes that companies are only within the SAO rules in relation to their UK activities.

HMRC will not consider charging penalties where companies and SAOs have followed previous guidance for any period up to the first period commencing after the publication of the revised guidance. A ‘light touch’ period will also apply to any companies that are brought into the SAO regime by virtue of the changed interpretation for the first period commencing after publication of the guidance. Finally, HMRC will not charge penalties for previous periods where one would have been due under the previous guidance, but which would not be due under the revised guidance.

Brief 16/12 is available at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/briefs/company-tax/brief1612.htm