The Office of Tax Simplification has today published a document dealing with the taxation of small businesses. It contains a general appreciation that for very small businesses the existing tax rules are over complicated and that they tend to cause problems and costs for the business owner or manager that discourage and penalise entrepreneurial ideas. [...]
Before I continue let me make it clear that the above is not an accusation but a genuine question, and one which I think needs to be answered urgently. By now there can be few people who have not heard that Sir Paul Stephenson, the Commissioner of London’s Metropolitan Police force, resigned last night. In [...]
Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs have announced a new hit list of potential tax cheats who they are targeting for investigation. High on that list are teachers who make extra cash from giving private lessons, people selling goods on eBay, Amazon or other internet sites, personal trainers and tradesmen and businesses who hide their true [...]
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has published revised Advisory Fuel rates to be used as mileage allowances where an employee is provided with a company car but not with company fuel. This can be, and usually is, advantageous to the employee who instead of being liable to be taxed on the “benefit in kind” of [...]
One of the reasons that you won’t often find me commenting on US tax issues is that the US government have a lot of very nasty laws that they are prepared to use on anyone they think might be encouraging their citizens to evade or even just avoid tax – even though tax avoidance is [...]
It’s over a year now since I pointed out that it is actually in the best interest of the British taxpayer for banks (or any other business) to pay large bonuses to their staff. It isn’t hard to see why this should be so and so I’m rather surprised that neither the media nor Government [...]
Keen readers of this blog will have noticed several articles over the last 18 months regarding changes to the tax treatment of holiday lettings. The first of these was UK Budget Bombshell for Second Home Owners (April 2009). This article highlighted a proposal hidden away in the small print of Alistair Darling’s 2009 Budget. This [...]
The Institute of Directors (IoD) today publishes the results of a survey of its members on the administrative burdens that the tax system imposes on them. The picture is much gloomier than that painted by last Friday’s World Bank survey, which placed the UK fourth for ease of paying taxes. The IoD argues for specific [...]
On Tuesday 4th January 2011 the Standard Rate of Value Added Tax is increasing from 17.50% to 20%. This change will mean a lot of extra work for VAT registered businesses and any non registered business or private individuals should consider whether there are any steps they can take to try and pay at the [...]
If you have decided to start your own business as a self-employed sole trader (perhaps having read Choosing the Structure for Your Business) then you might think that you have nothing else to do apart from finding some work and getting paid when you have done it. Unfortunately it isn’t quite as simple as that, [...]
On July 20th this year the Chancellor George Osborne announced the establishment of the Office of Tax Simplification (“OTS”) charged with the task of providing the Government with independent advice on simplifying the UK tax system. Not before time! Today the OTS announced details of two initial reviews, which are to be completed before the [...]
As more businesses take steps to move their tax residence from the UK and as many workers in the financial sector leave these shores because of high levels of personal tax, the UK Chancellor must urgently review the competitiveness of the UK tax system or risk prolonging the recession. Almost all commentators, economists and tax [...]
Is offshore banking legal? This is a question often asked these days, as various nations seek to clamp down on offshore tax havens and offshore banking. And while such banking may raise eyebrows in certain quarters, or invite disapproving comments from politicians seeking to balance budgets and maximise tax revenue, the fact is banking offshore [...]
In a new paper contributing to the debate about higher education funding, the Institute of Directors (IoD) argues that a graduate tax is the wrong policy solution and would damage the UK’s tax competitiveness. Nor would it solve the problem of widening participation. The IoD urges the Government to opt for an extension of the [...]
The Coalition’s June 2010 Budget announced that the Government wished to consider how the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) system could be improved in order to reduce costs, ensure accurate tax calculations, and make it easier for employers and HMRC (Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs) to administer. In all honesty something does need to be [...]
Capital Gains Tax (“CGT”) was introduced by Harold Wilson’s Labour Government in 1965. Its purpose was simple: To tax the profit or “gain” made on the sale or “disposal” of an asset by individuals. Companies do not pay CGT but instead any gain is taxable as part of their Corporation Tax bill. The original reason [...]
UK tax law is among the most complex in the world, and it has been getting more complex every year. Despite the fact that I earn a fair amount of my income advising on tax matters I welcome the announcement by Chancellor George Osborne of the establishment of the Office of Tax Simplification. The problem with UK [...]
University tuition fees could be replaced by a new “graduate tax” under new proposals put forward by business and skills secretary Vince Cable. He proposed that the government would pay fees directly to universities instead of lending money to students to cover the cost and then having them pay these loans back by an extra [...]
Since I first raised this issue in April of last year (see UK Budget Bombshell for Second Home Owners) I have had occasion to return to the subject several times. To recap, as part of the 2009 Budget, measures were slipped into the small print of the budget by the then Government to withdraw the [...]
It has long been accepted that businesses can and do make mistakes on their VAT returns from time to time. As long as the amount of VAT in question was under £2,000 they didn’t have to declare the error but could just correct it on the next return they filed. If the amount involved was [...]
