A leading tax barrister has criticised the members of his profession who are prepared to accept a fat fee in return for issuing overly favourable opinions on tax avoidance schemes.
SME Tax News
In CLP Holding v Singh and Kaur [2014] EWCA Civ 1103 the seller of a VAT opted property was left with a VAT bill after failing to provide for VAT in the sales contract.
In Carmel Jordan v HMRC [2014] TC4010 the FTT turned down an appeal against an information notice issued by HMRC during a Business Records Check (BRC) however it held it unreasonable to request information beyond the statutory records of the business.
In Karim Makji v HMRC [2014] TC04014 a taxpayer's attempts to limit an enquiry were not enough to allow an appeal against a schedule 36 information notice.
The UK's past practice of offering sweetheart tax deals to multinationals may have amounted to illegal state aid.
HMRC have recently announced the end of paper EMI1 notifications.
The Government has launched a consultation into the effectiveness of tax-advantaged venture capital schemes. This also explores the possibility of extending investment limits for EIS and VCTs on par with the European Commission’s guidelines on State aid.
In Laithwaite v HMRC [2014] UKFTT 0759 (TC), the First Tier Tribunal (FTT) allowed an appeal against CIS penalties for submission of incorrect returns on the basis that the taxpayer had relied on the advice of his accountant.
Une bonne idée? The Association of Taxation Technicians (ATT) is proposing that the UK adopts the same method as the French in order to cope with VAT on prompt payment discounts, so removing the need to issue separate credit notes.
HMRC has at last updated its guidance on company purchase of own shares and also provided a checklist for tax clearance.