HM Revenue & Customs are facing a flood of legal claims that will blow another massive hole in the public finances. In the past few weeks thousands of High Court claims have been lodges by companies and local councils relating to millions of pounds of interest wrongly charged by HMRC. When HMRC makes a repayment [...]
In what may be seen as a final act of desperation by a morally, legally and financially bankrupt UK government, the Treasury, having failed to “crack down” on what it sees as tax avoidance by banks (the UK courts don’t agree with HMRC) has now come out with a “Voluntary Code”. Not only is this daft [...]
Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC) are convinced that there is widespread tax avoidance in the construction industry and have recently issued a consultation paper outlining their proposals for tackling the problem – proposals which are likely to result in a substantially higher tax burden for many genuinely self-employed workers as well as more red [...]
Back in April of this year Alistair Darling slipped a shock announcement in the small print of his Budget statement. I reported these in a previous post UK Budget Bombshell for Second Home Owners. You should read the earlier post for full details but basically Mr Darling announced that with effect from April 2010, the [...]
The controversial tax which was introduced by Gordon Brown shortly after he became Chancellor has proven to cost far more to administer than the cash it has raised. Gordon Brown has long had the typical socialist view of business owners which sees them all as crooks only concerned with paying as little tax as possible. Tax [...]
Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC) recently published details of a new one penalty system for inaccurate tax documents and returns. This new system replaces the previous wide variety of penalties. The new system relates to returns and documents for the period starting on or after 1st April 20098 which are due to be filed [...]
A shock announcement in the small print of this year’s budget has left thousands of UK farmers and second home owners reeling at the loss of tax breaks without which they may have to sell up. Not a good thing in a falling market. But it could benefit owners of foreign holiday property. Buried deep [...]
I recently received a question from the owner of a UK company questioning the imposition of Spanish withholding tax on payments his company received from a Spanish subsidiary. He thought that the EU Parent-Subsidiary Directive exempted the tax. In fact it would do for dividends but not for royalty payments, which these payments were for [...]
HMRC (Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs) have announced that they are gearing up to mount an attack on Managed Service Companies (MSCs) based in the UK and offshore. Background For many years now HMRC has battled to try and stop what it perceives to be the unacceptable use of limited companies as a way for [...]
Recent UK legislation has resulted in the real possibility that contractors using offshore umbrella companies could face massive back tax bills. For a number of years now many contractors have worked via umbrellas companies based offshore in jurisdictions such as the Isle of Man. These companies have offered contractors up to 85 per cent of [...]
I enjoy watching Question Time on the BBC each Thursday. It can be amusing and entertaining usually because of the crass stupidity of some of the panellists. I don’t object to politicians and celebrities displaying their ignorance and political bias as at least it helps us make an informed opinion about them, but sometimes they [...]
As of today’s date 24 MPs have signed an Early Day Motion which on the face of it is supportive of small businesses but in actual fact is totally pointless. In fact it could be evidence, if such is needed, that MPs really have no idea of the realities of business life. The motion reads: [...]
New Powers Come Into Force Next April As part of a drive to track down tax evaders, up to one million landlords could be subject to investigation from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) who aim to identify those landlords who are not paying the correct amount of tax. HMRC say that in their experience many [...]
Here’s a question received a few days ago from Ron: Hi, Last year I invested a large amount of money in a limited business. The business made some money but not enough to break even. I am thinking of winding the limited company up although we have been more successful this year/ So I can [...]
COMPANY CAR: If you have a company car which you can also use for private use then as from 1st July 2008 the following rates apply for reimbursement of fuel costs for business mileage: These rates don’t often change but you should be aware that they may and they will if VAT rates change. [...]
Every business will – unless it continually makes a loss – have to address the issue of taxation. Like it or not the government wants its pound of flesh, but there is nothing to stop you structuring your business to get the best tax advantage possible. Here you will find some points to consider when [...]
The so called IR35 Legislation came into force in the UK in April 2000. It seeks to tax freelance workers providing services via their own limited company. Its stated aim was to prevent employees setting up a limited company and performing their duties through that company with the resulting tax advantage. Generally it is more [...]
