Featured this month is updated guidance on the NI corporation tax legislation and regulations to implement Welsh tax devolution.

• HMRC have published guidance on SDLT for cross border transactions.
• Guidance on the operation of tax reliefs in the UK when Scottish Income Tax rates and bands changed in April 2018 has been published.
• HMRC are continuing to warn about an iTunes gift card scam targeted at older or vulnerable people. This scam is still being widely used. In a recent press release HMRC explained what it has been doing to combat the scam
• Class 1A National Insurance contributions on benefits in kind (CWG5) has been updated
• Flexibly accessed pension payment: repayment claim (P55) has been updated
• HMRC has issued guidance on changes to enveloped UK dwellings and related finance which took effect from 6 April 2017 and limit the availability of excluded property for inheritance tax
• HMRC have published a consultation seeking views on how to make the employment status rules for employment rights and tax clearer for individuals and businesses
• HMRC has published a warning about the use of contractor loan schemes, following a ruling by the ASA about misleading advertising by a tax avoidance scheme promoter
• HMRC has updated statutory maternity pay guidance to update information on how to deal with an employee working for another employer
• The following newsletters have been published recently:- Employment related securities bulletin, Trusts and Estates newsletter and Pension schemes newsletter 97 – March 2018
• HM Treasury has published a call for evidence looking at how cash and digital payments are used in the new economy and how the transition the UK is experiencing from cash to digital payments impacts on different sectors, regions and demographics.
• A plethora of new forms, helpsheets and publications have been published on GOV.UK in respect of the new tax year 2018/19
• HMRC have published Customs Information Paper 33 which changes the application of End Use Relief with effect from 31 July 2018
• From 1 April 2015, stamp duty land tax was replaced in Scotland with the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT). Under LBTT many leases have multiple tax and filing points, including a requirement to file a return every three years. These triennial review dates began to fall due from 1 April 2018.
• The Research and Development (Qualifying Bodies) (Tax) Order 2018 has been published. These regulations set out the list of qualifying bodies for the purposes of additional relief for expenditure where payments are made to the listed qualifying bodies in respect of R&D, and replaces the previous list
• A recent opinion of the GAAR advisory panel has been published
• HMRC: your guide to making a voluntary disclosure and Specialist investigations for fraud and bespoke avoidance: Code of Practice 8 have been updated
• Taxing Times “Routes to Reform for Small Businesses as Taxpayers” has been published by the Federation of Small Businesses
• HMRC has updated their online guide Stamp duty land tax: corporate bodies to reference the 3% surcharge on residential properties bought for under £500,000
• HMRC has published guidance for Fast Parcel Operators (FPOs) claiming repayment of import VAT on goods returned under a distance selling contract
• HMRC has updated the policy paper on the Help to Save scheme to include more detail on eligibility conditions
• HMRC has updated several documents on ATED:- Annual Tax on Enveloped Dwellings, Annual Tax on Enveloped Dwellings Returns Notice and Annual Tax on Enveloped Dwellings: work out the value of my property
• HMRC has issued factsheet CC/FS9 on the individual rights of taxpayers who are facing penalties for non-compliance with tax rules, focusing on article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights
• A special edition of HMRC’s Trusts and Estates newsletter has been published