News

Charities have extra time to get to grips with new VAT rules, following concerns by the Charity Tax Group (CTG).

HMRC this week announced an extension to the transitional period during which a retrospective concession will apply for direct mail to be treated as a single composite supply of zero-rated delivered goods.

The end date is now 31 July 2015, having originally been 1 April, after the tax department ruled last year that the printing and delivery of mail packs for charities and other organisations should no longer be zero-rated for VAT purposes.

Budget

The chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, has announced there will be a second 2015 Budget on Wednesday 8 July.

Avoidance

HMRC’s tax avoidance list of withdrawn scheme reference numbers has been updated to include those withdrawn from 13 April 2015.

Tax charity calls for improved guidance

A group of organisations representing tax advisers and accountants have issued the latest version of their guidance on professional conduct.

The document – which replaces the February 2014 publication – is shared by the Association of Tax Technicians, the Association of Accounting Technicians, the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, the Chartered Institute of Taxation, the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland, and the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners.

The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) wants to more than double its number of general court judges, as part of reform plans being examined by the European parliament.

The CJEU’s proposals – approved in principle by the Council of the EU – aim to “enhance the overall efficiency of the… court system and… provide structural and sustainable solutions”.

The mooted reform comes after the number of cases before the general court increased from 398 in 2000 to 912 in 2014, with growth expected to continue.

Big four seconded eight staff in 2012-2014

Taxation publisher launches charity drive

Vocalspruce

The Supreme Court has refused the taxpayer permission to appeal in the lead case of Vocalspruce v CRC [2015] STC 861, meaning the decision is now final. The case centered on the tax treatment of loan relationships. It involved UK-to-UK financing arrangement that, by transferring it to the share premium account, the taxpayer claimed would make it not liable to tax. The Court of Appeal held that the related party provisions applied to disregard all transactions, so the proceeds remained taxable.

The Pensions Regulator has announced plans for a new auto-enrolment solution to help employers that currently use HMRC’s basic PAYE tools.

The proposals, set out in a consultation document, explain how pensions officials would prefer for employers to buy appropriate payroll software, rather than rely on the Revenue’s free offering, which will not be updated to provide automatic enrolment functionality.

Changes to the tax regime for unauthorised unit trusts are the subject of new guidance released by HMRC.

A trust with at least one exempt unit holder and one non-exempt unit holder for the period from 24 May 2012 to 5 April 2014 will be a mixed unauthorised unit trust, and will complete its tax return (SA900) in the same way as for earlier tax years.

Globetrotting businesspeople are increasingly under scrutiny from HMRC, with no sign of a let-up in the near future, according to legal experts.

There has been a 29% rise in the number of tax probes into globally mobile high earners in the past year, City law firm PC has reported. The Revenue’s personal tax international compliance unit investigated 764 cases during 2014/15, up from 593 in 2013/14 and 438 in 2012/13.

VAT refund scheme

HMRC has issued Notice 1001 to explain the rules that apply to charities eligible for refunds of VAT under VATA 1994, s 33C and s 33D.  Qualifying charities can claim a refund of VAT incurred on most goods and services supplied to them on or after 1 April 2015 and which relate to their non-business activities. The charity does have to be VAT registered.