HMRC has confirmed it will raise interest rates on late tax bills by 0.25 percentage points after the Bank of England increased the base rate of interest to 1%. The announcement means the late payment interest rate and corporation tax pay and file rate will increase to 3.5% from 24 May 2022 (16 May 2022 … Continued
Workplace Charging Scheme: guidance for charities and small accommodation businesses
The UK Government is now offering help to businesses with the upfront costs to install charge points. The Workplace Charging Scheme (WCS) is a voucher-based scheme that provides eligible applicants with support towards the upfront costs of the purchase and installation of electric vehicle (EV) chargepoints. The scheme is available for B&Bs, campsites, small hotels, … Continued
MTD for VAT rolls out to all VAT-registered businesses
All VAT-registered businesses must comply with Making Tax Digital (MTD) rules, regardless of how much they make each year. Kicking in from 1 April 2022, the changes mean all VAT-registered businesses must compile and submit VAT returns using software that connects to HMRC’s systems. They can do that either through a bridging tool or by … Continued
National Insurance and dividend 1.25% uplift underway
The Government has at last increased National Insurance (NI) and dividend tax by 1.25 percentage points after months of anticipation. The 1.25% uplift came into effect on 6 April 2022 and will apply until April 2023, after which a separate health and social care levy will apply on peoples’ income at 1.25%. The Government said … Continued
New law to resolve Covid rent debt
The Government has set up an arbitration system to help resolve outstanding commercial rent debts as the general moratorium on commercial eviction ends. From 25 March, a legally binding arbitration process is available for eligible landlords and tenants who have not yet reached an agreement. The Government hopes this will resolve disputes about pandemic-related rent … Continued
IR35 reform landing period ends
Penalties now apply to businesses that make mistakes under new IR35 rules for the private sector. The Government extended the off-payroll working rules reform to the private sector in April 2021, but promised to be lenient on mistakes in the first year. The landing period has now ended, so employers caught within the reformed IR35 … Continued
Government launches online sales tax public consultation
The Government has opened a public consultation into a new online sales tax (OST) to “rebalance” the taxation of online and in-store retail businesses. The Treasury published its consultation on 25 February 2022, seeking answers from stakeholders on 40 questions about how an OTS should work. If implemented, the Government would use an OST to … Continued
House of Lords raises concerns over IR35
The Economic Affairs’ Finance Sub-Committee of the House of Lords has written to the Government, listing key recommendations on off-payroll working rules known as IR35. IR35 legislation aims to prevent tax avoidance by workers who contract out their services through a personal limited company for tax purposes but enjoy the perks a regular employee would. … Continued
Economic forecasts dampen for 2022
The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) has revised its forecast for GDP growth in 2022, which is now expected to grow at half the rate as it did in 2021. GDP is now expected to grow in 2022 by 3.6%, revised down from 4.2% and compared to 7.5% growth in 2021. The downgrade largely reflects … Continued
Over one million individuals use extra time to file tax returns
More than one million individuals completed their self-assessment tax return by the extended deadline at the end of February 2022. HMRC estimates 11.3m of 12.2m of the taxpayers who had to file a self-assessment tax return for the 2020/21 tax year did so by 28 February 2022. Individuals and trusts required to submit a self-assessment … Continued