In Benjamin Cohen v HMRC [2023] TC8717, the First Tier Tribunal (FTT) found a property occupied for 10 days was not an only or main residence for SDLT purposes. Higher rates of SDLT were due on the purchase of a further property as it was not the replacement of an only or main residence.
SME Tax News
Following the Bank of England’s announcement on 2 February 2023 that the base rate will rise to 4%, HMRC interest rates are also increasing by 0.5%, to 6.5% for late payment interest and 3% for repayment interest, from 21 February 2023.
Hello,
Everyone that I have spoken to in the last couple of weeks has said that January has seemed busier than usual. Comparing notes, some of you have reflected that this was due to the knock-on effects of Covid, with many businesses and their owners struggling to get back to normality due to the combination of supply-side shortages, recruitment issues, and owner and staff sickness. Now that Self Assessment returns are all filed, there is, however, little time for introspection: it's time to start planning for the tax year-end. What do you need to consider?
HMRC say that they will block access to the Agent Services Account (ASA) if an agent fails to respond to queries about who supervises them for Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulation purposes.
In Gain Capital Limited v HMRC [2023] TC8703, the First Tier Tribunal (FTT) dismissed an appeal against Regulation 80 determinations totalling £2.6m in respect of gifts made to former employees: they were taxable as earnings.
In HMRC v Third Party and Taxpayer [2023] TC8706, the First Tier Tribunal (FTT) approved the issue of third-party information notices to a law firm in respect of property transactions. The information requested was not protected by privilege or impinged the individual’s human rights as they were reasonably issued.
The number of live cases being investigated and reviewed under the Corporate Criminal Offences (CCO) regime for the failure to prevent the facilitation of tax evasion has remained stable since HMRC's last update.
Missed our SME Tax Web-updates in January? Here is a summary of the month.
Hello,
With so much news coverage on the former Chancellor of the Exchequer Nadhim Zahawi's tax settlement, we have created a case study, based loosely on the known facts of his tax penalty, to illustrate how tax-geared penalties are calculated and what might count as a 'reasonable excuse' for making an error on a tax return. We have also included some suggestions as to how, with the benefit of hindsight, penalties could be avoided.
In Nicholas Burley v HMRC [2022] TC08701, the First Tier Tribunal (FTT) found that Self Assessment late filing penalties totalling some £280k had been validly served. The taxpayer's argument that the letters had not been received was dismissed.