Hello,
We have something of an 'Employers' Special' this week, with a new Employer Bulletin from HMRC and an Employers What's new 2023-24 guide. There is something for everyone though, as we also have several new season guides for Landlords, Company Directors and other taxpayers.
HMRC have published their Employer Bulletin for April 2023. We have summarised the key content for you, with links to our detailed guidance on the topics covered.
In Morgan Lloyd Trustees Limited & Others v HMRC [2023] TC08779, seven companies were hit with pensions unauthorised payment charges and their financial adviser was fined when a scheme to release employers' pension funds as loans back to the companies secured on their overvalued intellectual property backfired.
Figures published by the Insolvency Service reveal that nearly half of the 932 director disqualifications obtained by the Insolvency Service in 2022-23 were as a result of COVID-19-related misconduct. The length of the period of a director's disqualification have also increased.
In James Charles Pride as Trustee of the Estate of the Late Geraldine Jill Pride v HMRC [2022] TC08776, the First Tier Tribunal (FTT) found that loan notes issued by a trust of which the deceased was life tenant, were a liability of her death estate. Their value was reduced to nil as she had provided the consideration for the note so there was no reduction in the Inheritance Tax due.
In John Buckingham v HMRC [2023] TC08782, the First Tier Tribunal (FTT) found that a Special Dividend paid as part of a merger was taxable partly as income and partly as capital. In making its decision, the FTT was highly critical of HMRC and noted that a statutory review decision was given out of time.
In NWM Solutions Ltd v HMRC [2023] TC8788, the First Tier Tribunal (FTT) found that as an employer met all the conditions imposed according to a PAYE dispensation covering subsistence expenses, HMRC was bound by that agreement and could not seek to change its view later.
In Spring Capital Limited v HMRC [2023] UKUT 91, the Upper Tribunal (UT) rejected the claim that Scottish law was 'a matter of fact', agreeing instead with the First Tier Tribunal (FTT) which ruled that it was a matter of judicial knowledge and any tribunal judge was eligible to hear the case.
In Oral Healthcare Limited v HMRC [2023] TC8781, a company had to repay £35,739 after it failed to meet the conditions of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. Employees were employed in March 2020 but were not added to PAYE RTI submissions until after the 19 March cut-off deadline.
Hello,
One potential way of tackling the current housing shortage in places like London and the South West is to make it more difficult for home owners to holiday let their properties through sites such as Airbnb or Vrbo. With demand for the ‘staycation’ showing few signs of abating, investor demand for lettable properties is driving up house prices.
The government’s solutions to the problem include the introduction of a short-term let registration scheme and to make home owners apply for planning permission before letting. As the government itself notes, holiday letting spawns its own ‘ecosystem’ of local services, and therefore any measures will have to balance the needs of local employment with local housing.