Hello

We have a mixed bag of updates and case reports this week, but funnily enough, the capital taxes are the ones that always catch our eyes.

We have had a lot of queries from Personal Service Company (PSC) owners asking for tips and advice on what on earth to do with their companies come next April. We have updated our PSC guide to try and fill in the gaps. To be clear, there is no 'one size fits all' solution.

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 & Guides (freeview)

Corporation tax rates won't change
The prime minister has announced to the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) that if re-elected, the Conservative Party will back down from its pre-election pledge to reduce corporation tax. This means that the 19% rate is likely to remain for 2020.

Starting in business?
Start here! This guide takes you through the key steps in getting started for tax, with links so that you can drill down for more detail...More

Company start-up?
Check out these essentials for anyone who decides to trade via a company...More

Editor's pick (subscribers)

Contractors & PSC Planning: what now?
UPDATE: we have updated our section on working via an 'umbrella' and added some further tips on what you can do with your company if it ceases trading. All useful stuff.

Tax Guides (subscribers)

Employee training & course fees
UPDATE: Employees can be sponsored and paid allowances to attend full time courses and retrain. This guide explores the different reliefs and options for employers.

Self-employed training & course fees
UPDATE: Have you heard of the National retraining scheme? 

Incorporating an existing business
Incorporation of an existing business is the process in which the business of an existing sole trader or partnership is transferred to a new company. 

Trusts & Estates: Ten-year charge reporting requirements
What is the ten year charge (or principal or periodic charge) and when does it apply? Changes in the tax treatment of trusts, means many trusts have reporting obligations and potential IHT liabilities to consider.

Entrepreneurs' Relief
UPDATE: our guide details the different forms of the relief and our case summaries highly the pitfalls when the detailed conditions for making valid claim fail.

Case Update (freeview)

Where there’s a will there’s a valid interest in possession
In Margaret Vincent v HMRC [2019] TC7432, the First Tier Tribunal found that a valid interest in possession had been created in a family home so it had to be included in the beneficiary’s death estate.

What a Relief: in the end he was a farmer
In William Charnley & Maxwell Hodgkinson as Executors of the Estate of Thomas Gill (deceased) v HMRC [2019] TC7425 the First Tier Tribunal allowed claims to APR and BPR. It was a working farm so the house was a farmhouse and the business was not an investment business.

Entrepreneurs' Relief: property partnership not a trade
In Stephen Reneaux and Lynne Reneaux-Smith v HMRC [2019] TC7441, a claim for Entrepreneur’s Relief under the associated disposal rules failed. There had been a partnership, however it was not engaged in any trade.

VAT cases (freeview)

Construction of sports pavilion by a CASC not VAT-exempt
In Eynsham Cricket Club v HMRC [2019] UKUT 0286, the Upper Tribunal (UT) found that although it was registered as a Community Amateur Sports Club (CASC) it was not a charity and so its sports pavilion could not be zero-rated.

Stop playing planning officers and refund DIY VAT
In Christopher Swales v HMRC [2019] TC07116, the First Tier Tribunal (FTT) allowed a VAT DIY Builder's Scheme refund. HMRC had refused the claim on the grounds that the building did not strictly comply with the approved planning application.

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.

  • Entrepreneurs' Relief: Sole traders: sale of a business, incorporation, sale of assets
  • Entrepreneurs' Relief: Company owners: rules for sales pre 29 October 2018, sales between 29 October 2018 and 5 April 2019 and after.
  • TAAR: closing your Personal service company? Will your final dividends be taxed as income?
  • Salary or dividend, or a mixture of both. Better to claim the Employers' Allowance?
  • Making Tax Digital for VAT: when do you need to join..

CPD for lunch 

Byte sized chunks of CPD for subscribers

Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS)

Accounting standards for tax

see also: CPD Index

Missed last time's Web-update?

Nichola's SME Tax W-update 14 November 2019

  • Unreasonable? LBTT is payable when the return is submitted
  • Wrong arguments cost HMRC 50%
  • VAT Grouping now extends to individuals and partnerships
  • Automated Decisions: notice given by a computer
  • Company Vans and Commercial Vehicles
  • Top Tax-Free Employee Benefits
  • Directors: Working from home 
  • More...

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