UK Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has delivered his Autumn Statement to MPs, which outlines his plans for stabilising the economy and reducing inflation through spending cuts and tax rises worth billions of pounds. The Autumn Statement is an update on the government’s plans for the economy based on the latest forecasts …
UK Government plans a phased implementation of EPR from 2024
The UK has released its response to the new Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) legislation. Find out what this means and how it will affect your business. In November 2021, following the COP26 Climate Conference held in Glasgow, the UK Government announced, ‘The Environment Act’, which set out to improve air …
International Day of Forests
Today is the international awareness day of forests. The day was first proclaimed by the United Nations in 2012, to raise awareness of the importance of forests and to equally encourage all countries within the world to recognise the importance of choosing sustainable and ecologically friendly activities to preserve these …
UK Plastic Packaging Tax – April 2022
Prepare your business for the new UK Plastic Packaging Tax legislation The UK’s new Plastic Packaging Taxes (PPT) could affect your e-commerce business if you are established in or importing goods into the UK from 1st April 2022. Following on from the launches of new EPR legislation in France and …
US Taxes: New requirements on annual personal and corporate tax returns, from February 2022
The US Tax Season is almost upon us, a time when individual taxpayers and corporations prepare their financial accounts and reports for the year ending and submit their tax returns. The US Tax Season will take place as usual between January 1st and April 15th, 2022. With the approach of the …
EPR – Everything that you need to know…
If you or your business are selling goods in France or Germany, then the 1st of January 2022 is a significant date. New EPR legislation comes into effect that requires Producers to register for EPR and file EPR returns, and for online marketplaces to collect and validate your EPR registration …
Government responds to OTS report on CGT
As part of its Tax Administration and Maintenance (TAM) Day, the government responded to a two-part review of capital gains tax (CGT) published by the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS). Earlier this year, following a request from Chancellor Rishi Sunak, the OTS made a series of recommendations for simplifying CGT. …
Government sets out tax details on TAM Day
The UK government has marked the inaugural Tax Administration and Maintenance (TAM) Day with the release of 30 papers covering a wide range of tax issues. Chancellor Rishi Sunak made the commitment to have a TAM Day in the Autumn Budget. The aim was for a dedicated day for the …
House sales drop dramatically after stamp duty holiday ends
House sales in the UK plummeted by more than half in October after the stamp duty holiday ended. There were nearly 77,000 transactions in the UK during October, a 52% fall compared to September, according to HMRC statistics. HMRC says this was down to buyers pushing through purchases before 30 …
AVASK US Shopify Promotion
Are you looking to sell on Shopify or are you already trading there? Have you registered for Sales Tax? All sellers need to consider whether they need to register for local Sales Tax in each State they sell or have a physical presence in, if they are selling on Shopify …
HMRC issues warning on self assessment scams
HMRC has warned taxpayers completing their 2020/21 tax returns to ‘be on their guard’ and stay vigilant in regard to tax-related scams. Nearly 800,000 tax scams were reported in the last year, HMRC revealed. It said that fraudsters use self assessment to attempt to steal money or personal information from …
Payment period on residential CGT is doubled
The government has doubled the payment period for capital gains tax (CGT) on residential property from 30 days to 60 days. Although the measure was not announced by Chancellor Rishi Sunak in the recent Autumn Budget, it was included in HM Treasury’s Budget publication. The change applies from 27 October …
IFS predicts millions to be worse off next year due to tax rises
The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has predicted that millions of people will be worse off in 2022 as a result of spiralling costs and tax rises. Responding to the Autumn Budget, the IFS predicted that low-income families will ‘feel real pain’ due to a rise in the cost of …
Chancellor makes significant changes to fuel duty and alcohol duty
In his Autumn Budget speech, Chancellor Rishi Sunak made significant changes to fuel duty and duty rates on alcohol. The government will keep fuel duty frozen at 57.95p per litre across the UK for 2022/23 in recognition of the significant cost that fuel represents for households and businesses. The alcohol …
CBI urges government not to introduce business tax rises
The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has warned the government against introducing new business tax rises in this week’s Autumn Budget. The business group has urged the government to ‘end the repeated increase of business taxes that are stunting investment’; reform the business rates system; commit to maintaining ‘more generous …
FSB study shows small firms losing £25 billion per year to tax admin
A study carried out by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has showed that small firms are losing £25 billion per year as compliance costs and time lost to dealing with tax admin soar. The FSB study found that the government’s Making Tax Digital (MTD) initiative has ‘significantly increased costs …
Deadline for 2020/21 self assessment tax returns approaching
HMRC has reminded self assessment taxpayers that the deadlines for filing 2020/21 tax returns are now approaching. The deadline for 2020/21 tax returns is 31 October 2021 for those completed on paper forms and 31 January 2022 for online returns. HMRC has already seen thousands of people filing their returns …
IoD urges government to introduce tax super-deduction for investment in retraining
The Institute of Directors (IoD) has called on the government to introduce a tax super-deduction to plug an investment gap in retraining. The IoD also outlined other measures to ‘help the UK reorientate to a higher skill economy’, including reintroducing lifelong personalised training budgets to be used on accredited vocational …
Working Tax Credit customers must report changes to working hours
HMRC is urging Working Tax Credit (WTC) customers to check if they need to update their working hours if these have reduced because of the pandemic. During the pandemic, WTC customers have not needed to tell HMRC about temporary short-term reductions in their working hours due to the coronavirus (COVID-19). …
Making Tax Digital for Income Tax self assessment delayed for a year
The government has delayed the introduction of Making Tax Digital (MTD) for Income Tax self assessment (MTD for ITSA) for a year, HMRC has announced. The government says it has made the move in recognition of the challenges faced by many UK businesses as the country emerges from the pandemic. …
IoD urges government to reduce planned level of business tax rises
The Institute of Directors (IoD) is urging the government to use the upcoming Budget to reduce the planned level of business tax rises. The IoD believes that the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) will revise its GDP growth forecasts up for 2021, potentially resulting in stronger tax receipts. It stated …
OTS says changing date of tax year end would be beneficial
Adopting a tax year which is either aligned with the calendar year or with a calendar month-end would have clear benefits, according to a review from the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS). The review considers the high-level implications of moving the tax year end date to 31 December, and a …
Thousands of teenagers missing out on Child Trust Fund cash
HMRC is urging young people to check if they have a Child Trust Fund (CTF) account. It is now one year since the first account holders started turning 18 and around 55,000 CTFs mature every month. This means their owners can withdraw funds or transfer savings into an adult ISA. …
Business groups warn over tax increases
Business groups have warned that the government’s plan to raise national insurance contributions (NICs) and add a surcharge to dividend income will hamper the economic recovery. The government has announced a 1.25 percentage point increase in NICs to pay for increased spending on health and social care. It has also …
Tax-Free Childcare can ease the cost of the return to school, says HMRC
Families may be eligible for Tax-Free Childcare (TFC) to help pay for breakfast clubs and after school clubs as their children go back to school, HMRC has said. Eligible families can save money on their childcare and benefit from a government top-up worth up to £2,000 every year, or up …
Drop proposed basis period reform, urges ICAEW
Pushing through proposals to change basis periods ahead of the expansion of Making Tax Digital (MTD) will cause as many problems as it solves, the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) has warned. HMRC recently began a consultation outlining proposals to align basis periods with the tax …
HMRC urges taxpayers to stay alert to digital scams
HMRC has urged taxpayers to stay alert to the threat of digital scams and scammers claiming to represent HMRC. Research published by HMRC revealed that the number of tax-related scams has doubled in the past 12 months. In the past year HMRC has received more than one million referrals from …
CIOT warns over stamp duty refund claims
The Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT) has warned that some claims being made by firms offering help with Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) refunds are too good to be true. The CIOT says an increasing number of firms are contacting buyers of properties after completion of a purchase, suggesting that …
HMRC outlines changes to late payment penalty regime
HMRC has published a paper outlining the changes to the late payment penalty regime for taxpayers. The government intends to reform sanctions for late submission and late payments to make them ‘fairer and more consistent across taxes’. Initially the changes will apply to VAT and income tax self assessment (ITSA). …
Deadline looms for parents to update Child Benefit for 16-year-olds
HMRC has reminded parents and carers that they have until 31 August 2021 to confirm whether their teenagers are staying in full-time education or training beyond 16. If they do decide to continue their full-time education or training, parents and carers will be eligible to continue receiving Child Benefit payments …