News

Additions cover PPI misselling interest only

Stamp duty penalties revised

HMRC are set to launch a test version of their latest web tool for tax advisers, as the department continues to ramp up its digital services.

The offering known as agent online self-serve (AOSS) will be made available by the end of the year to volunteers, to provide access to details of employer PAYE clients’ tax liabilities and payments.

Users will experience:

Bereavement

Form R27, “Reclaiming tax or paying tax when someone dies”, is felt by HMRC to no longer be necessary. It will be replaced from 13 October: PAYE taxpayers will be expected to use a simple, automated process, while there will be a tailored set-up for self assessment taxpayers that includes letters matching the individual’s circumstances.

The Revenue plans to raise the supervision fees charged to firms under anti-money laundering regulations.

The tax department has launched an informal consultation on the structure of the levies, which was set in 2010 to include a registration and renewal payment of £110 for each premises, and a £50 fit-and-proper test fee per director, beneficial owner, nominated officer and other person exercising effective control of the business.

HMRC plan to withdraw three extra-statutory concessions (ESCs):

“Pay upfront” demand concerns Ingenious movie schemes

IR35

Independent tax advisers have called for business entity tests to be abolished because they are “not working in the way they were intended”, according to the minutes of the May meeting of HMRC’s IR35 forum.

IHT toolkit

HMRC have updated the inheritance tax toolkit to help agents avoid when completing form IHT400. The toolkit is effective for deaths occurring on or after 6 April 2014.

The chancellor, George Osborne, has pledged to abolish the so-called death tax on pension funds, announcing measures that will allow retirement pots to sidestep the 55% due when the holder dies.

The change is scheduled to come into effect in April next year, when individuals with a drawdown arrangement or uncrystallised pension fund in a defined contribution (DC) scheme will be able to nominate a beneficiary to receive their pension.

HMRC have uploaded a video guide for firms affected by VAT changes to the supply of digital services.

The YouTube clip comes ahead of 20 October, when businesses across the European Union will be able to sign up online for the Revenue’s new mini one-stop shop (MOSS) – which will remove the necessity to register for the tax with each country in which they provide broadcasting, telecommunications and e-services.

HMRC have updated their guidance on when VAT recovery may be possible for holding companies.

The change follows the decision in British Airport Authority (BAA) v CRC [2013] STC 752, in which the Court of Appeal confirmed that VAT is recoverable only where there is a direct and immediate link to taxable supplies.

Medical expenditure

Finance Act 2014, s 12 introduces a new tax exemption for expenditure by employers on recommended medical treatment intended to help an employee return to work after absence due to injury or ill health. HMRC have published draft regulations, setting out the additional criteria that treatment must meet for the exemption to apply.