Hello
This week we have something of an employment taxes special. It is now P11D season and probably a good time for an employer to consider a compliance review of the previous year and an audit of your systems.
Employers are often competing with each other to provide flexible low tax remuneration packages in order to attract new employees, hence the enduring attraction of hiding pay as loans or via employee benefit trusts. Our collection of cases this week 'celebrates' (in a very dark way) the evolution of employment tax, very much a 'First world problem'.
Due to the high sums paid to players and managers, the football industry genuinely is in a 'league of its own' when it comes to avoiding employee taxes. The question of 'How do you tax image rights payments?' has been pawed over for many years. The case we have this week features a footballer whose image had little value to the club (who did not know how to exploit it) and image rights payments were found to be part of his overall remuneration package. The player in question was not anyone particularly well known and we wonder whether the decision would be the same for a more high profile player who had created an entire brand from their name?
'Loose Women's' Kay Adams was found by the FTT not to have been an employee of the BBC for the purposes of IR35, unlike Christa Ackroyd (who in another decision was found to be within IR35), Adams was also not a brand but the judge felt, despite what her contract said, that she worked independently, with, and not for, the BBC.
Finally the argument has been settled, VW Kombis are cars: they are people carriers and Vauxhall Vivaros are vans: they are mainly for carrying goods.
We are recruiting for tax writers as we continue to develop this resource. If you are keen on contributing do let me know.
If you have any tax queries please do try out our Virtual Tax Partner support portal at www.VtaxP.co.uk.
Enjoy the guides and updates and the news is below.
Back soon
Nichola Ross Martin FCA CTA (Fellow) Tax Director
Your Virtual Tax Partner®: online PRACTICAL support for accountants, tax advisers BY accountants and tax advisers
Quick news (freeview)
Spotlight 50: Disguised remuneration: asset transfer arrangements set up to avoid the loan charge
HMRC have released Spotlight 50 “Disguised remuneration: asset transfer arrangements set up to avoid the loan charge”.
Agent update April/May 2019
HMRC have issued the Agent Update for April/May 2019. We have summarised the key content for you with links to our detailed guidance on the topics covered.
Employer bulletin: April 2019
HMRC have also published their Employer Bulletin for April 2019. Here is our summary complete with links to our guidance.
Employment Related Securites: what's new?
Our enhanced version of HMRC's Employment Related Securities Bulletin.
Making Tax Digital
Making VAT Digital Zone
START here for guides to the different aspects of the new record keeping and filing requirements
Editor's Choice (subscribers)
Company cars
UPDATE: When an employer provides an employee, or a director with a company car, he is treated as receiving a taxable benefit.
Golden handshakes and unusual payments
A handy tracker of cases where an employee may receive a payment or fee that is not described or treated as remuneration.
Tax Guides and Updates (subscribers)
Employers' Travel guide
This guide considers relief available where accommodation is provided during business travel or when the employee works at a temporary workplace. Handy guide to the special rules for IR35, MSCs, Agencies etc.
Employers' Guide: accommodation
This guide considers relief available where accommodation is provided during business travel or when the employee works at a temporary workplace.
Scale Rates, Bespoke Rates & Fixed Rate expenses
What can you pay without receipts?
PIID exemption for paid and reimbursed expenses
All about the exemption for qualifying business expenses provided that the expenses are incurred personally and then reimbursed by the employer
Image Rights & Tax
Following developments in employee taxation of image rights.
Regulation 80 PAYE Determinations
And Decisions under Section 8 Social Security Contributions (Transfer of Functions) Act 1999. Assessments on the employer when PAYE and NICs are not correcly deducted
Case Update (freeview)
Image Rights payments were employment income
In Hull City AFC (Tigers) Limited v HMRC [2019] TC7074 the FTT decided that payments made to Geovanni Gomez’s offshore company under an image rights contract were employment income and not consideration for the licensing the footballer’s image rights.
Middlesbrough FC defeats HMRC over National Minimum Wage
In Middlesbrough Football & Athletic Company (1986) Limited v HMRC ET 2501182/2018 the Employment tribunal held that deductions from pay for season tickets should not be taken into account when assessing whether employees had been paid the national minimum wage (NMW).
People carriers v goods carriers
In Noel Payne, Christopher Garbett, Coca-Cola European Partners Breat Britain Limited v HMRC [2019] UKUT 0090 the Upper Tribunal confirmed that for car benefits two VW Kombis were cars and a Vauxhall Vivaro was a vans for the purpose of assessing employee benefits.
IR35: Loose Women presenter is not a BBC employee
In Atholl House Productions Limited v HMRC [2019] TC07088 the FTT found that TV presenter Kay Adams was not subject to IR35; she was an independent provider of services carrying on a profession on her own account.
VAT Cases
Compensation cancelled out supply for VAT
In Owen Francis Saunders v HMRC [2019] TC6992 compensation paid under the Proceeds of Crime Act for shoddy workmanship cancelled out the underlying supply for VAT purposes: effectively there was no supply of goods or services.
Private body qualifies as university for VAT exemption
SAE Education v HMRC [2019] UKSC Supreme Court found that an independent and private body providing education for profit was integrated with a university that its education services could benefit from the education exemption in Group 6 Schedule 9 VATA 1994.
VAT
Car or Van for VAT?
UPDATE: What is a car or van for VAT? When can you recover input VAT? What it is leased? What about fuel? Or mileage reimbursements?
Opportunities
Block of fees for sale
Small block of self assessment cases...More
Tax writers wanted
We are looking for tax writers who are interested in flexible working, have practical experience in working in SME tax and want to work with us in creating a new range of tax resources....More
CPD for lunch
Finance Act 2019
NEW: A webinar covering the latest legislative changes.
Missed last time's Web-update?
Nichola's SME tax W-update 23 April 2019
Features:
- Private client case review
- Director's legal fees and input VAT
- How to tax a trust
- CGT Entrepreneurs Relief
- Employee Benefit Trusts (EBT’s) and EFRBS: paying the loan charge
- and much more..
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