Nichola's SME Tax W-update 7 November 2019

Hello

We have updated several key guides for landlords and property owners this time and there are a couple of Private Residence relief (PRR) cases to report which may be of interest to advisers and potential property buyers.

The Court of Appeal has 'set the cat amongst the pigeons' and found that the date of acquisition of a private residence for the purposes of capital gains tax (CGT) PRR cannot be earlier than the date on which you can actually physically occupy your residence. Otherwise no one would be able to claim PRR for the time, which may run into months or even years, between exchange of contracts and completion. I wonder how many taxpayers ever realised that the date might be different. A handy decision if you are purchasing off-plan.

The long-awaited result of the review of the Disguised Remuneration loan charge is now not going to be made available until after the general election. Is this because its bad news and not going to win any votes and would I be so cynical to suggest such a thing?

We are preparing for a tribunal which looks at goodwill and incorporation. I am aware that there quite a number of cases stacked up behind a test case on goodwill and trade related property. If you would like details message me via our Virtual Tax Partner support portal at www.VtaxP.co.uk.

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Back soon 

Nichola Ross Martin FCA CTA (Fellow) Tax Director

www.rossmartin.co.uk

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

Quick news (freeview)

General election delays loan charge review
The Financial Secretary to the Treasury, Jesse Norman, has written to Sir Amyas Morse asking him to send his report on the loan charge review to the new government after the general election.

OTS: digital will simplify tax for self-employed
The Office of Tax Simplification (OTS)'s latest report,“Tax reporting and payment: Simplifying tax for self-employed people and residential landlords” recommends Making Tax Digital.

Persons of Significant Control (PSC): register meets objectives
Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) considers that all is working well and the costs to business have been proportionate and in line with the original estimates. 

Editor's pick (subscribers)

CGT Private Residence Relief (PRR)
UPDATE: What is Private Residence relief (PRR)? How do you claim PRR? What restrictions apply? Have you made an election in time?

Date of acquisition/disposal and CGT
UPDATE: a handy guide. When is the date of acquisition or disposal of an asset for Capital Gains tax purposes? When do special rules apply? Why does it matter?

Tax Guides (subscribers)

First-time buyers guide to Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT)
NEW: What relief is available to first time buyers? What are the qualifying conditions?

Buy-to-let ownership: personal v company?UPDATE: a really handy summary of all the recent and forthcoming changes including those for non-resident landlord companies.

Adviser guide: Property profits and losses
UPDATE: What's new for landlords?

Property profits & losses: toolkit (2019-20)
UPDATE: Our toolkit takes HMRC's version and adds a great deal more information about what you can claim as an individual. 

Case Update (freeview)

PRR date of acquisition is completion, not exchange of contracts
In Desmond Higgins v HMRC [2019] EWCA Civ 1860, the Court of Appeal (CoA) has decided that the date of acquisition of an off-plan property for the purpose of  Capital Gains Tax (CGT) Private Residence Relief was the date of completion, and not at exchange of contracts. 

PRR: Make sure you move in within two years
In Andrew White and Melanie White v HMRC [2019] TC07434, the First Tier Tribunal (FTT) struck out an appeal concerning the application of Extra Statutory Concession (ESC) D49 regarding Capital Gains Tax (CGT) Private Residence relief (PRR). It did not have jurisdiction to consider it.

Capital allowance claims on power plant upheld and extended
In HM Revenue and Customs v SSE Generation Ltd [2019] UKUT 0332, the Upper Tribunal upheld the First Tier Tribunal decision that certain items of expenditure on plant qualified for capital allowances and extended allowances available to items previously disallowed.

Reliance on HMRC was a reasonable excuse for late appeals
In Claire Shenstone, Georgina White, Henry White v HMRC [2019] TC7378 the First Tier Tribunal allowed late penalty appeals; reliance on incorrect advice from HMRC was a reasonable excuse.

Making VAT more Digital (freeview)

MTD: VAT blog
How was it for you?

Virtual Tax Partner Toolkit (freeview)

Virtual Tax Partner © Tax Toolkit© Tax Toolkit
NEW: be a winner with our game-changing tax diagnostics tools. Sign up at Tier 1 prices now.

CPD for lunch 

Byte sized chunks of CPD for subscribers

Extracting Profits from an Owner-Managed Business

Goodwill: Reliefs and allowances

see also: CPD Index

Missed last time's Web-update?

SME Monthly Summary October 2019

Nichola's SME tax W-update 31 October 2019

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