This month’s UK tax tidbits
This week’s items cover a number of areas.
- Working with the Royal Association for Deaf People, HMRC is piloting new services for deaf people.
- The 2014/15 Self-Assessment: Tax Return (SA100) has been published.
- Following the earlier suspension of the Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Schemes (QROPS) list, HMRC have now published an updated (and much shorter) list of qualifying schemes.
- An updated list of payees for vendors who wish to pay non-UK resident classical music artists under the simplified tax system is available.
- A useful list of tax avoidance schemes on which users may be required to make an accelerated payment has been published. In addition, factsheet CC/FS24 which deals with accelerated payments has also been updated.
- The following updated guidance is now available:- Stamp and property taxes: miscellaneous guidance and Stamp Duty and Stamp Duty Reserve Tax: transfer schemes of arrangement.
- The latest Employment-related securities bulletin has been published together with previous bulletins.
- A step by step guide to the most common functions of basic PAYE tools (BPT) is available, guidance on sending an earlier year update if someone uses BPT for payroll is also available.
- Detailed updated guidance notes for Community Amateur Sports Clubs is available.
- A number of documents relevant to Intrastat obligations have recently been published: Intrastat: support and services, Intrastat: an overview, Supplementary Declarations for Intrastat, Intrastat: step-by-step guide and Completing your Intrastat Supplementary Declaration.
- Tables showing the indexation allowance for assets disposed of in May 2015 are now available together with historical data.
- On 1 July, regulations were published amending the cultural tests which must be passed to qualify for corporation tax relief for television production development. The cultural test for drama and documentary programmes will be brought into line with the cultural test for films and a new cultural test for children’s television programmes will be introduced following the new relief brought in by Finance Act 2015. The regulations will take effect from 23 July 2015.
- Guidance on how to submit Union and Non-Union Vat Mini One Stop Shop returns is available. Details of currency exchange rates needed by Mini One Stop Shop businesses registered in the UK to complete declarations have also been published in VAT Information Sheet 03/15.
- The top ten things to know about the new Tax-Free Childcare scheme has been published. A recent judgment from the Supreme Court found the proposals for delivering Tax-Free Childcare to be lawful. As a direct result of the legal challenge, the scheme is now expected to launch from early 2017 and not from October 2015 as originally planned. The existing Employer-Supported Childcare scheme will remain open to new entrants until Tax-Free Childcare is launched. Tax-Free Childcare was announced in 2013. The scheme will operate through TFC accounts. For every 80p paid in by parents, the Government will add 20p up to a maximum of £500 per child for each three-month entitlement period.
- The Negligible Value list is a list of shares formerly quoted on the London Stock Exchange, which have been declared of Negligible Value. The list is now dated up to 27 March 2015.
- An updated list of overseas corporate lenders who are recognised passport holders under the Double Taxation Treaty Passport Scheme is available.
- Updated HMRC organisation data is available:- HMRC organisation information and supporting datasets, Summary of junior posts in HMRC’s organisation structure and Senior posts in HMRC’s organisation structure
- HMRC has updated its National Insurance Manual to confirm that Class 2 NICs are only payable by individuals who are liable to income tax on property letting where the activities amount to a business rather than just investment. This is as a result of the National Insurance Contributions Act 2015, via the reform of Class 2 NIC from 6 April 2015.
- Draft legislation aimed at strengthening some existing hallmarks and to introduce a new hallmark describing certain Financial Products under the Disclosure of Tax Avoidance Regimes legislation has been published. Two draft DOTAS forms have also been published for comment. In addition, draft forms AAG6 and AAG7 are being published for comment following the 2014 consultation.
- The National Insurance Contributions (Rate Ceilings) Bill 2015–16 has been published. This contains the legislation implementing the NICs element of the “triple lock” on tax rates.
- Two new statutory Instruments have been released which provide for the usual annual update to the enhanced capital allowances regime. The list of qualifying energy-saving technologies has been updated to include an ‘adoption of waste heat to electricity’ sub-technology and to remove the packaged chillers subtechnology. The qualifying criteria for 11 current technologies have also been revised.
- Updated guidance on the following offshore disclosure facilities is available: Isle of Man Guernsey, Jersey and Liechtenstein.
- The outcomes of a number of research projects have been published in a HMRC collection:- Exploring large business tax strategy behaviour, Exploring SME interaction with UK Customs, Capital Gains Tax: Entrepreneurs’ Relief and Business Asset Rollover Relief research, Small Business and Choice, Behavioural factors influencing use of offshore disclosure facilities, Evaluation of the Needs Enhanced Support service national roll-out, Trends in the tax agent market, Factors affecting small and mid-sized businesses’ choice of tax agent, Understanding tax administration for businesses, Charitable giving and Gift Aid behaviour amongst better-off individuals and Use of VAT software.
- An updated list of overseas corporate lenders who are recognised passport holders under the Double Taxation Treaty Passport Scheme register is available.
- Revenue and Customs Brief 10 (2015): VAT – direct marketing services using printed matter has been published. HMRC has identified that a number of suppliers of printed matter combined with other services have been treating the supply as one of zero-rated delivered goods. In HMRC’s view, these supplies should properly be characterised as a supply of standard-rated direct marketing services.
- HMRC are inviting comments by 18 September 2015 on proposed changes to the deduction of income tax at source rules for peer-to-peer interest payments.
- Comments are also requested by 18 September 2015 on changes to the deduction of income tax from savings income as a result of the implementation of the Personal Savings Allowance from 2016.