Nichola's SME Tax W-update 6 August 2020

Hello

This time we have a capital taxes round-up. We look at the options of those thousands of taxpayers who still have Employee Benefit Trust loans, we review some topical cases and we have new CPD.

My pick of this week's guides is our capital taxes update. It has been quite an eye-opener to review just how many developments there have been in Capital Gains Tax (CGT) and Inheritance Tax (IHT) over the last year. In terms of this week's cases, we all quite liked the idea of a DIY VAT Housebuilder claim involving a boat. Sadly for the claimant, it was not dwelling and the claim failed.

We are living in a time of extremes. This week, the 'Eat Out to Help Out' scheme opened for business, and then right in its tracks comes a new TV show which aims to help a group of overweight people lose a stone in under a month. Conversely, whilst major names on the high street announce redundancies, the government's Job Retention Bonus aims to reverse the trend and keep people on. Full details of the latter will not be available until September. Things are looking up, I can see that there is a huge gap in the market for a new chain of 'diet restaurants' and take-aways.

Although there may be COVID spikes in Europe and parts of the UK, we should all spare a thought for the citizens of Beirut. Such desperate times.

Scroll down for news and cases and lots more updates. And we also have a couple of vacancies if you like technical tax.

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

More scrutiny for the management of tax reliefs
The House of Commons’ Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has published its report on the 'Management of Tax Reliefs' concluding HMRC and HM Treasury need to improve their reporting on the impact of tax reliefs for improved parliamentary scrutiny.

Coronavirus Government Support Tracker
This tracker covers measures announced by the government to support individuals and businesses, as we get through COVID-19.

Editor's Pick

Capital Taxes round-up: August 2020
An unmissable CPD special refresher covering all the latest developments in capital taxes including measures in the new Finance Act 2020, ongoing proposals, a review of some topical CGT and IHT measures plus a round up of useful case summaries.

Employee Benefit Trust schemes: What now?
UPDATE: Given that it is now impossible to re-extract funds following a repayment of loans without triggering a tax and NIC charge under the Disguised Remuneration rules, the options for EBT users who are subject to the loan charge are now extremely limited. We examine your options.

Guides and Updates (subscribers)

Pubs & Bars: What expenses can I claim?
NEW: This guide outlines what expenses unincorporated pub and bar owners can claim for tax purposes.

Expenses: Different trades
UPDATE: We look at the special rules and what expenses can different trades, professions and vocations claim.

How to appeal a decision of HMRC
What type of decision can you appeal? What are your different options when you disagree with HMRC? What are the key steps in making an appeal

Discovery Assessments: SDLT
When can HMRC issue a Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) assessment outside of the normal statutory time limits? What conditions must be met?

Case Update (Freeview)

Resurfacing was not a capital improvement
In Steadfast Manufacturing & Storage Limited v HMRC TC7770, HMRC were unsuccessful in attempting to disallow the costs of resurfacing a yard as capital.

Capital contribution ‘bonuses’ taxable as income
In BlueCrest Capital Management Cayman Limited (& others) v HMRC [2020] TC 07782, the First Tier Tribunal (FTT) agreed that the sale of occupational income rules could apply to charge Income Tax on partnership capital contributions.

SDLT avoidance scheme involving a sub-sale relief
In Oisin Fanning v HMRC [2020] TC07776, the First Tier Tribunal (FTT) found that HMRC's discovery assessment was validly issued. The assessment represented a 5% SDLT charge on the purchase price of a £5 million property in London. 

VAT Update

Do houseboats qualify for DIY Housebuilder Scheme?
In Edward Burrell v HMRC [2020] TC07766, First Tier Tribunal (FTT) found the construction of a houseboat did not meet the 'construction of a building designed as a dwelling' and therefore did not qualify for the DIY scheme.

Current vacancies

Tax writer and editor job opportunities
We have new vacancies for tax writers and editor focusing on SME and OMB tax including VAT, and we are also looking for a SME tax adviser, the two roles can be combined. We would love to hear from you...More

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

NEW

More at CPD Index

Missed last time's Web-update?

Nichola's SME Tax W-update 30 July 2020

Nichola's SME Summaries for July 2020

Links to all of July's newswires...More 

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