News

Employees with outstanding class 2 National Insurance contributions (NICs) from previous years may find the debt included in their PAYE code for 2014/15.

HMRC can collect overdue NICs by adjusting a taxpayer’s code, starting from April. Notices of coding will be issued between January and March.

Those with class 2 debts will have received a letter from the tax authority earlier in the year to request payment and warn that the sum could be recouped through the taxpayer’s PAYE code from April 2014 or passed to a private debt collection agency for recovery.

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:

The government is to allow savings kept in a child trust fund (CTF) to be transferred to a junior ISA from April 2015. The move follows an HM Treasury consultation that received 761 responses, the overwhelming majority of which expressed support for allowing transfers.

Offshore intermediaries

HMRC have published draft guidance as part of the consultation on proposals to strengthen legislation where there is an offshore employment intermediary. A technical note and frequently asked questions are also available.

HMRC have published guidance on the stamp duty land tax (SDLT) treatment of de-enveloping transactions, which are expected as firms move to duck the new annual tax on enveloped dwellings (ATED).

Companies may de-envelope a property by a capital distribution to shareholders following liquidation of the company. The tax consequences of de-enveloping will depend on whether or not there is consideration given by the shareholders for the transfer of the property.

HMRC’s trusts and estates section has made changes to its inheritance tax (IHT) compliance checks in an effort to streamline the process and encourage collaborative working with taxpayers.

The Revenue aims to send an initial letter within eight to ten weeks of receipt of an account to explain it has been selected for a check. The case will then be allocated to an investigator, the contact point for all subsequent communication.

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.

Christmas returns

HMRC have reported that 1,566 people filed their tax return onlines on Christmas Day. The busiest filing hour was from midday to 1pm, when 144 returns were submitted. In total, 23,059 online returns were received between 24 and 26 December, up 12% on the 2012 total of 20,563. Around 17,000 individuals submitted their returns on 24 December, and 4,493 people sent their tax returns on Boxing Day.

HMRC have launched a consultation that seeks views on changes to VAT law. The potential alterations would clarify the assistance available to VAT-registered businesses that are required to file their returns online but have difficulty doing so.

LexisNexis’s Payroll Alliance has launched an online survey on real-time information, after the payroll management information service’s members expressed concerns about adjustments they have had to make.

Draft statutory instrument The Real Estate Investment Trust (Amendments to the CTA 2010 and Consequential Amendment) Regulations 2014 has been published.

It follows work begun in FA 2012, making the condition regarding the level of borrowing for a real estate investment trust (REIT) simpler to comply with.

HMRC are offering a service to allow pension scheme administrators and trustees to reconcile their own membership data with the tax department's record, in advance of the ending of contracting-out in April 2016.

The new offering provides a list of contracted out periods and guaranteed minimum pension data for members who have left contracted-out employment, including early leavers, pensioners, widows, widowers and surviving civil partners.

The service will provide information from April 2014, but requests for data can be made immediately.