Hello

This time we are introducing our new R & D Zone. This is going to build week by week and aims to take the mystique out of R & D.

We appreciate that many of you do not have clients who do R & D, so we have put this as a separate add-on to the subscription.

We report more cases which should never have reached the tribunal: a vulnerable taxpayer and the case of a return rejected due to a £4 error and cases which seemingly only the tribunal can decide: is the VW Kombi a car or van? 

I woke up this morning to this message, "I just wanted to say how much we appreciate and use the website. It’s an absolute goldmine of useful information as well as tax tips etc." Thank you very much for the compliment: what a pleasant start to the day. It's not just me back here, there is a small team of us and we try hard.

Our Virtual Tax Partner support service is seeing quite a serge in fraud cases and HMRC seem to be having more success in its enquiries into football clubs. If you would like a second opinion or back up on a complex case, do try out our Virtual Tax Partner support portal at www.VtaxP.co.uk.

HMRC are switching on a new online filing gateway today, exciting stuff in the Making Tax Digital plan.

Enjoy the guides and updates and the news is below. 

Back soon


Nichola Ross Martin FCA Tax Director

www.rossmartin.co.uk

Your Virtual Tax Partner®: online PRACTICAL support for accountants & tax advisers BY accountants & tax advisers

Quick news (freeview)

HMRC's search of Newcastle United was valid
The High Court considers that raids in connection with untaxed player transfer fees were a reasonable course of action: HMRC 1 NUFC 0.

Welsh Land Transaction Tax Rates announced
The new Welsh Land Transaction Tax (LTT) will come into force from 6 April 2018. The rates of tax were announced on 3 October 2017. The bands and rates differ to those for SDLT

MTD: First challenges for VAT registered businesses
HMRC's estimates of the number of businesses who are able to submit their VAT returns directly by using third party software are inexact, but it seems that the vast majority (somewhere between 87-92% of businesses) submit their VAT via HMRC's portal. The main problem being difficult adjustments required and/or the need to combine data from several sources.

Solicitors are also bound to PCRT
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has instructed all solicitors to comply with the Code of Professional Conduct in Relation to Taxation (PCRT) jointly published by the accounting and tax bodies in March 2017.

Scottish Budget announced 
The Scottish Parliament has announced that its Draft Budget 2018/19 will be published on 14 December 2017.

Case Update (freeview)

Trust transfers rectified
In Whittaker v Concept Fiduciaries Ltd, Guernsey Judgement 15/2017, Guernsey’s Royal Court considered the UK rules on rectification of errors, and allowed the founder of Slimming World to avoid a tax disaster by undoing her company's remuneration trust.

Car or van? VW Kombi v Vauxhall Vivaro
In Noel Payne, Christopher Garbett, Coca-Cola European Partners Breat Britain Limited v HMRC [2017] TC06082 the FTT had to decide whether the VW Kombi and the Vauxhall Vivaro were cars or vans for the purpose of assessing employee benefits.

Unlogged return not late
In Tabrez Akhtar t/a Crawley News and Post Office v HMRC [2017] TC6078 late filing penalties were dismissed: HMRC had unlogged a return in error.

688 days: too late to appeal
In Darren Billington v HMRC [2017] TC06147 the FTT dismissed a late application to lodge an appeal against penalties raised for failure to act on an information notice: there was excessive delay and an insufficient excuse for the underlying failure.

Abused partner was a nominee director
In Rebecca Louise Vowles v HMRC [2017] TC06123 the abused partner in a failed relationship was let off substantial tax on dividends and employment benefits and penalties on the basis that she had been acting only as a nominee director and had no beneficial entitlement to the income assessed by HMRC.

Editor's Choice (subscribers)  

Dividends: index
UPDATE: How do you tax a dividend? Worked examples, HMRC software specification error and alterative computations.

Savings income
Update: Understand the Savings Rate Band and the Personal Savings Allowance and how they interact with the dividend rules.

UK Trusts
UPDATE: We only launched this new guide recently but the fast changing nature of the tax world means that we are already having to update it. This time it's for the deductibility of trust management expenses and '18 to 25 trusts'.

R & D Zone
Introducing our new R & D Zone: a mixture of subscriber guides and premium content for those practices who want to cut out the middleman and do their own clients' R & D.

Practical Tax Guides and Updates (subscribers) 

Welsh LTT vs SDLT: comparing the rates and additional dwellings charge
NEW: Following the announcement of the Welsh Land Transaction Tax rates we have created a handy table comparing SDLT and LTT.

Tax penalties
UPDATE: guides to vast array of penalties that dominate UK tax, with links to guidance on making a successful appeal.

Joint property: legal v beneficial ownership
Guide outlining the key differences between legal and beneficial ownership with examples and recent tax cases.

Joint property elections
This explains the tax treatment of jointly held property.

For sale

Tax and accounting fees for Sale

1. Block of fees for sale: London area: 90 tax returns, 100 corporation tax returns.

2. Small business accounting and compliance work.

 

CPD Webinars

New CPD click here

 

Missed last time's update?

Nichola's SME Tax w-update 6 October 2017

Features:

  • UK Trusts & Non Resident Trusts
  • Pricing for accountants UPDATE
  • How to incorporate a buy to let
  • Cash or accruals basis or fixed costs v actual costs?

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