Nichola's SME Tax W-update 27 February 2020

Hello,

This week we are focusing on employers and have our annual ‘Employer’s: What’s on?’ update, as well as featuring some of our useful guides for employers. We have also summarised the latest HMRC Agent Update for you.

Budget 2020 is a fortnight away yet HMRC have already issued the tax codes for 2020/21. Does this mean the government intends to stick to its previous plans and keep the personal allowance at 2019/20 levels? We will have to wait and see.

Ahead of the Budget, the new chancellor has indicated that there should be a ‘soft landing’ to the new off-payroll working rules for the private sector due to come in on 6 April. There are no signs of any changes or delays to the new rules despite the ongoing review by the House of Lords. Contractors and businesses who will be affected by the changes should assume they will come in as announced and plan accordingly.

HMRC have updated their guidance to say that they will not use information obtained under the new rules to instigate compliance checks into Personal Service Companies (PSCs) for previous years unless they suspect fraud or criminal behaviour. This may give some comfort to PSCs concerned that continuing to work for the same end-client under the new rules will prompt HMRC to investigate all previous contracts with that same client.

Finally, as HMRC issue a policy paper confirming that supplies of digital publications including newspapers are standard-rated despite losing the argument at the Upper Tribunal, we have some interesting cases on VAT exemption and the differences between single and multiple supplies.

If you have any tax-specific queries, please post them up to our sister site www.VtaxP.co.uk. 

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)

HMRC confirm policy on VAT treatment of digital publications
HMRC have issued a policy paper 'Revenue and Customs Brief 1 (2020): VAT liability of digital publications' confirming that their VAT treatment of supplies of digital newspapers and other digital publications has not changed following a recent Upper Tribunal decision.

Advisory fuel rates from 1 March 2020
HMRC have published new advisory fuel rates for company car drivers which will apply from 1 March 2020

Agent update February/March 2020
HMRC have issued the Agent Update for February/March 2020. We have summarised the key content for you with links to our detailed guidance on the topics covered.

What is the 2020/21 PAYE tax code?
Despite delaying the Budget to 11 March 2020 the government has released details of the proposed PAYE codes for 2020/21. 

Editor's pick (subscribers)

Employer's What's On? Feb-March 2020
NEW: Our annual employer update for advisers and their clients.

Off-payroll working: private sector engagements
UPDATE: with examples of accounting and accounting with VAT

Employment status & detailed checklist
Our guide to how to determine employment status and HMRC's check employment status (CEST) tool.

Assets made available without transfer
Special rules apply to calculate the taxable benefit in kind when an asset is made available to a director or employee without transferring ownership to them. Our guide explains the rules.

Company cars
Company car tax: How do you work out car benefit? How do you work out car fuel benefit? Are there savings for low emissions vehicles? How do you reduce car benefit? Cars and the tax tribunals and Top Tax Tips.

Payrolling of benefits
Our guide to when and how employers may voluntarily payroll taxable benefits as an alternative to reporting them on form P11D.

VAT Cases (freeview)

Supply of GPs was a service and VAT exemption upheld
In Archus Trading Limited v HMRC [2020] TC07557, the First Tier Tribunal (FTT) concluded that the supply of GPs were supplies of services, not staff, and qualified for VAT exemption.

VAT due on payment handling services
In Virgin Media Limited and Virgin Media Payments v HMRC [2020] TC07536, the First Tier Tribunal (FTT) ruled that the supply of payment handling services to customers was taxable and not VAT exempt.

Virtual Tax Partner Toolkits (freeview)

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

Tax Queries?

Virtual Tax Partner© Support
Have a tax query? Need a second option? Open a ticket and ask a question. A team of tax experts with a very wide range of expertise: covering direct and indirect tax, as well as accounting, R&D claims, reorganisations and much more. 

CPD for lunch 

Byte-sized chunks of CPD for subscribers

More at CPD Index

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Nichola's SME Tax W-update 20 February 2020

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