News

In a press release issued by HMRC today it was stated that 5 arrests have been made and 600 civil investigations are underway following the amnesty for plmbers and other tradesmen, with some of the sums involved being reported as owing up to £150,000 in unpid taxes.

This announcement follows the start of co-ordinated action which is expected to be rolled out across the UK in the coming weeks including Yorkshire, Kent, cambridge, Tyne and Wear, South Wales and the Midlands.

As of the 1st January 2012 HMRC will treat any salary sacrificed by employees in exchange for benefits as  consideration for VAT purposes.

This clarification is contained in an HMRC briefing paper which confirms that where a benefit received is liable to vat, input tax is recoverable as under the normal rules however output tax will be due to paid over on the amount of salary sacrificed.

HMRC are now targetting thousands of tax evaders and have launched its first sixteen criminal investigations folowing its tax amnesties.

It is reported that there ar several thousand more offshore related enquiries related to the NDO and information from banks regarding offshore accounts has already begun.

In a report issued by the IOD it is stated that the real tax burdens on business are much more than that imposed by just corporation tax.

Currently corporation tax rates are 20% and 26% however the IOD claims that the real tax burden ranges from 32% to 43%.

HMRC are intending to list the details of what it considers the 'most aggressive and artificial' schemes as it continues in its mission to recoup additional tax revenues for the public purse.

in a consultation document recently released HMRC proposes to describe the packages in operation that it believes are unlikely to deliver the savings claimed. This of course will be HMRC 's opinion and it is certain that the suppliers of these schems will argue that their scheme does work in law. It will still be up to any individual considering these schemes to ensure that they are fully informed about the scheme and its risks before deciding on whther the risk is worth taking or not. The providers of such schemes are already required to disclose the schemes to HMRC under DOTAS regulations as soon as they market the scheme.

The latest initiative by HMRC has been unveiled with the prime target of closing the tax gap. This initiative is focusing on companies, individuals and partnerships which have not registered for vat despite trading above the current £73000 per annum threshold.

The announcement of this campaign follows quickly on the heels of the introduction of a taskforce targetting tax evasion in the restaurant trade and the trialling of a single compliance procedure.

HMRC have published new company car fuel advisory rates which will take effect from 1st june 2011

As of 1st April all companies will be required to file their corporation tax return online for any accounting period ending after 31st March 2010.

Companies will also be required to pay any corporation tax and related payments due electronically from the same date. Payments may be made via BACS, Direct Debit, CHAPS and Debit or Credit card as well as any other approved electronic means.