Admin

The HMRC information service on tax avoidance arrangements, Spotlights, has added an update on contractor loan schemes in light of the First-tier Tribunal decision in P Boyle (TC3103).

The tribunal dismissed all the arguments put forward by an IT contractor that his contractor loan scheme worked and the money he received was not subject to tax. The judge decided that the money paid over to the taxpayer as loans was “in substance and reality income from his employment” and therefore taxable.

HMRC have launched a blog aimed at improving the way the department works with tax advisers.

The new offering supports the Revenue’s strategy for engaging with tax agents, providing a channel to communicate about:

Seghill Rugby Football Club (TC3078)

MCashback Software 6 LLP (TC3061)

Wright v CRC, Upper Tribunal (Tax and Chancery Chamber)

• The New Statutory Residence Test for Individuals: a Practical Guide by Malcolm Finney; £87; paperback; Sweet & Maxwell
• Residence: The Definition in Practice by Keith Gordon; £48.50; paperback; 137 pages; Claritax Books

Admin for this week

Special rules apply under the IR35 regime if intermediaries were unable to finalise timely calculation of deemed end-of-year payments to PAYE and National Insurance (NI) contributions.

Intermediaries have until 31 January to submit amended returns showing the final figures and to pay any additional amount, provided a payment on account of the estimated tax and NI for 2012/13 was made by 19 April 2013, supported by a P35 showing provisional figures.

Interest will then be levied on late payments made after 19 April 2013, but no penalties will be charged if:

E Mariner (TC3039)

Littlewood Hire Ltd (TC2975)

The Upper Tribunal’s revised Rouse decision, following the Supreme Court ruling in Cotter, further muddies the waters of the self assessment process

Revenue & Customs Brief 40/13 has been issued to cover the withdrawal of Public Notice 915 – Assessments and Time Limits: Statement of Practice and Public Notice 208 – Excise Assessments.

Notice 915 set out HMRC’s procedures for making and notifying assessments to VAT, other indirect taxes and penalties. It included an explanation of how the department would apply the legal time limits that relate to such assessments.