HMRC have published legislation to allow businesses to comply with due diligence and reporting obligations under the accord between the UK and US governments to improve international tax compliance and implement the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA).
The International Tax Compliance (United States of America) Regulations 2013 imposes new and substantial burdens on UK firms in identifying American taxpayers, and in reporting information to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in the States.
HMRC’s double taxation treaty passport (DTTP) scheme operates for overseas corporate lenders and applies to loans taken out on or after 1 September 2010. Two main changes have been made with effect from April 2013:
HMRC are set to introduce a brace of statutory instruments to address the tax treatment of trail commission paid to non-resident investors.
March’s Revenue & Customs Brief 4/13 discussed the latest handling of payments made to investors in collective investment schemes and other insurance products where the money did not arise as a distribution from the investment but was made to the investor by the fund manager or other intermediary.
Tax advice services face extra costs, warns PCS
HMRC have announced new fuel rates for company cars. They will apply to all journeys on or after 1 June 2013 until further notice.
Employers may use either the previous or new rates for one month from the date of change and, therefore, make or require supplementary payments. They are under no obligation to do either. Petrol hybrid cars are treated as petrol vehicles for this purpose. The amounts can be used for VAT, but employers must retain receipts.
The recruitment process for people wishing to apply to join the initial general anti-abuse rule (GAAR) advisory panel has begun. It will oversee the Revenue’s GAAR guidance, and provide opinions on cases where tax department believes the rule may apply.
Patrick Mears, former head of tax at Allen & Overy, chairs the panel. He took up his appointment in April and is leading the work to recruit members.
The Treasury is consulting on how to provide additional funding through the tax system to support digital media production in the UK, including the visual effects sector. The government is keen to learn more about:
...PAYE; VAT notes; Negligible values
Limited tax relief will be available from June for workers whose employer pays or reimburses the charge for subscribing to the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) update service, and for criminal records certificates.
The government expects the measure to affect up to 11.4m employees in the first five years of the DBS update service, which is to replace the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) and Independent Safeguarding Authority.
HMRC have issued a consultation on two aspects of partnership rules, with the intention of removing the presumption of self-employment for some limited liability partnership members to tackle the disguising of employment relationships, and to counter the manipulation of profit and loss allocations.
Incorrect real-time information tax codes are being issued for businesses that have submitted employer alignment submissions (EAS) or full payment submissions (FPS) that are incomplete or partial.
Examples include where an employer:
Public Accounts Committee confirms findings of audit office
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