Welcome to Contractor Corner, the series written specifically for accountants with clients who are contractors. The last IR35 Tribunal was six years ago in 2011, but the scarcity of tax tribunals over the years ended on 4 October 2017 when…
Category: Tax
Beware the IHT loan trap
Mark McLaughlin points out explains how an IHT anti-avoidance provision could result in the unexpected denial of a deduction for an outstanding debt on death. The making of gifts and loans between family members, friends, etc., are a relatively common…
Simple Assessments: Some simple facts
In January 2018 HMRC hope to have issued something in the order of 400,000 simple assessments or to give it their correct name forms PA302. So the chances are that one of your clients may well have received one so…
Re-Register a client in January to file by 31st not likely.
The run up to the filing deadline of 31st January is always a difficult time for Accountants as they try to lodge client’s Returns before the deadline and thus save them late filing fines. Every Accountant knows that clients who…
Penalties for errors: here we go again!
In a recent issue of ‘HMRC Enquiries, Investigations and Powers’, Mark McLaughlin highlighted a case in which HMRC’s approach to the imposition of a penalty for careless tax return errors was severely criticised by the First-tier Tribunal. Here’s the story……
The Budget and You
Jeffrey Webber proffers some post-Budget action points for the small accountancy practice; Autumn Budget proposals affecting accountants and their clients will be implemented in the next Finance Bill, and future Budgets and Bills will address other areas. We list below…
The Autumn Budget: 25 things you need to know
The Chancellor has presented his Budget to Parliament – here’s a summary of what was announced. 1. There are over 32 million people in work – near a record high The rise in employment over the past year has been…
Tales from the Telephones
Here are some more sample questions submitted by accountants to the ICPA/Qdos telephone helpline: Q: My client’s father has died. Can they claim the additional nil rate band for Inheritance Tax purposes that applies to residential property? A: Generally a…
Contractors Corner
Welcome to Contractor Corner, the series written specifically for accountants with clients who are contractors. Some 88% of contractors do not believe accurate IR35 decisions can be made without their input In one fell swoop, April’s rather unwelcome reform to…
HMRC makes mistakes too!
Mark McLaughlin points out that procedural error by HMRC can sometimes be to the taxpayer’s advantage: The UK’s tax system might seem harsh to taxpayers who make a mistake, such as where a tax return error results in a penalty.…