“Give me pure tax evasion any day”

This sentiment was expressed by one of our tax investigation specialist members on the Tax Advice Network’s private forum for members. What prompted such an intriguing comment?

The discussion related to aggressive tax avoidance schemes. I’m no fan and have long sought to highlight that the real risks of such schemes are generally greater than the promoters would have you believe. This is especially the case if you are dealing with promoters who are one or more steps removed from the tax brains that originated the scheme.

The tax adviser members of the Network were sharing their views as to the complexity of such schemes. This was in response to my suggestion that we consider adding the following as additional headings on our list of ‘specialisations’:

Avoidance schemes and strategies – resolving challenges

Sadly there are plenty of taxpayers and accountants who have been taken in by the hard sell and ‘assurances’ offered by promoters of tax avoidance schemes. It’s a fact of life that the problems only become apparent some years after the initial transactions took place. Our advisers are experienced in negotiating with HMRC and helping clients to extricate themselves from complex structures that have little commercial value.

Explanations and advice

Unlike the aggressive purveyors of tax avoidance schemes who focus on promoting and selling their ‘products’ our advisers prefer to focus on bespoke tax planning. Some of our specialists are well aware of the ‘solutions’ being promoted to reduce income taxes, capital gains tax, corporation tax, SDLT, NICs VAT and IHT. Whilst the tax reduction is often attractive, many clients decide not to proceed once they understand the risks (and there are always risks). Others may still be willing to proceed but only when fully aware of the risks and downsides they may face.

Call or email one of our specialist advisers if you want help in resisting a hard sell or a more down to earth explanation of a specific strategy, the risks and probable outcome.

Despite the potential interest in such generic services, we concluded that we could not offer to provide them in the way I had initially suggested. To do so would require specific members to have in depth knowledge across a wide range of specialist area of tax and the related avoidance schemes.

In practice most advisers only have such expertise in their own specialist area or areas. So, for example, one member noted that he would be willing to assist anyone who is involved with an employee loan scheme. However he would be reluctant to offer advice on non-employment related schemes as to do so would require a great deal of uneconomic research.

Another member of the Tax Advice Network noted that he has been instructed on a number of occasions after HMRC had successfully challenged schemes. He noted that it often only takes a little research to find:

“the little bit of writing – in the mass of over information – that covered the seller’s back and usually points to the naive customer not reading the blurb with enough detail to spot that they were likely to end up paying through the nose for very little.”

And another member noted that one of his past roles in a national firm of accountants was to unpick these avoidance schemes, with the result that very very few were sanctioned by the firm.

It became clear from our online discussion that there was no appetite for providing the two generic services I summarised above. Indeed, such is the lack of enthusiasm for such schemes among these experienced specialist tax advisers that one (a tax investigations specialist) was moved to conclude: “Give me pure tax evasion any day”.


Tax & Accounting Platform of the Year 2020

We are more than thrilled to announce that the Tax Advice Network has been chosen as Tax & Accounting Platform of the Year 2020.

What a year to win an award! Not only was 2020 the year of COVID and Lockdowns, but we also celebrated our 13th anniversary, and continued our managed growth over this period.

We are so excited to have won this award and really thank the judges of the SME News Finance Awards for their hard work and very welcome decision.

In the announcement message we learned that we did not win simply by popularity of votes, but because of our contributions to the industry and sector.

Dedicated researchers prepared a case file on our behalf, via merit-orientated research into public domain sources.

“Awardees must be able to demonstrate expertise within their given field, dedication to client service and satisfaction, and commitment to excellence and quality”.

2020 was certainly the year for that!

The Tax Advice Network, which also operates as FindATaxAdviser.online now has more vetted tax advisers, as well as more local tax accountants, registered on the site than ever before.

We are so pleased to celebrate this win and award!


Selling services into the EU

UK businesses who sell digital or broadcasting services to non-business customers in the EU will be used to completing an EU VAT MOSS return by 20th of the month following the end of the calendar quarter. Those with small volumes of cross-border digital sales could avoid VAT MOSS returns altogether if their annual sales fell under the de-minimis threshold of £8,818.

Now that the UK is no longer treated as a member of the EU, as the Brexit transition period has ended, UK businesses are not eligible to use the EU VAT MOSS system. Those UK businesses who continue to sell digital services to non-businesses customers in the EU must use the non-EU VAT MOSS scheme, for which there is no de-minimis sales threshold.

To register for non-EU VAT MOSS the trader must first have an EU VAT number, and UK VAT numbers don’t qualify. The trader must register for VAT in an EU country, and this may require appointing a local tax agent.

The UK trader should register for non-EU VAT MOSS by 10th of the month following the month in which the first digital services sale is made to a non-business customer within the EU. If such a sale is made in January 2021 the UK trader needs to register for non-EU VAT MOSS by 10 February 2021.

The alternative to registering for non-EU VAT MOSS in one EU country, is to register for VAT in each EU country where the business supplies broadcasting or digital services.


Late filing penalties

“No fine for late taxes” was the misleading front page headline In The Sunday Times on 10 January 2021.

The report doesn’t include a source but it would seem to be a letter that was sent by Jim Harra, CEO of HMRC, to 6 accounting bodies on 18 December 2020. We featured this is our weekly topical tax tips on 7 January.

That letter includes caveats clearly intended to avoid exactly the type of headline that appears in The Sunday Times. Specifically it says: “We do not want to complicate this message by sending a blanket signal that it’s OK to file late”.

The Sunday Times article also seems to confuse penalties for late filed tax returns and late paid taxes.

Our advice to accountants last week, before the ST article appeared:

The 2019/20 tax return filing deadline remains at midnight on Sunday 31 January, and automatic £100 late filing penalties will be issued by the HMRC computer for any tax returns received after that point.

However, all penalties can be appealed. HMRC has confirmed, in a letter to the professional accounting bodies, that the period in which an appeal will be accepted has been extended to 90 days. That appeal period runs from the date the penalty notice is issued, not from the date it arrives with the taxpayer.

All taxpayers who have accessed their online Personal Tax Account (PTA) will have consented to receiving all communications about self-assessment from HMRC in digital form, so don’t expect a paper penalty notice to always arrive in the post. You will need to prompt your client to look for penalty notices from HMRC on their PTA.

Taxpayers can appeal against a penalty notice using the online service, by logging into their Government gateway, but tax agents need to appeal using the paper form (SA 370).

In order to appeal successfully you need to include a reasonable excuse to why the tax return was late. This reasonable excuse needs to be in place for the period in which return should have been submitted and the delay after the submission deadline. HMRC expect the return to be submitted as soon as the factors that contributed to the delay have dissipated.

HMRC is prepared to accept covid-related personal or business disruption as a reasonable excuse, and this will include disruption to the tax agent’s work as a result of the pandemic.

 


Christmas party exemptions

Office parties will have to be online this year because of the coronavirus restrictions that apply across most of the country. But employers can still say “thank you” to their employees with a physical gift.

HMRC has confirmed that the cost of online staff parties will be an “annual event” for employers qualifying for the tax-free limit of £150 per person. Remember this is an absolute cap not an allowance, and if the cap is breached the whole amount is taxable and subject to NIC.

The £150 per head limit applies to all those attending the event, not just employees. It should cover the cost (including VAT) of food, drink and any entertainment provided. The employer could send a food hamper to every employee to enjoy while attending the online party, and provide a form of entertainment such as a live comedian, music or a quiz, all delivered online of-course.

In addition to, or instead of the online staff party, the employer can give a physical gift worth no more than £50 to any or all of the employees. These trivial benefits must not be provided in return for the employee’s normal service, and must not be a contractual entitlement. Also, the gift must not be cash or a cash voucher.

For employees who are not the company’s directors or their family members, there is no limit to the number of trivial benefits the employer can give during the year. A gift-card that is topped up at intervals with £50 each time would fail this test as the total value given in the year would be counted as one gift.

Directors have an annual cap of £300 for trivial benefits, which also applies to members of their family or household.


Autumn tax announcements

There will be no Autumn Budget this year, but that doesn’t mean tax policy has paused, changes are still being made in the following areas:

MTD for corporation tax
We have been waiting for an indication of when the MTD rules will apply to companies, and now we know those rules won’t be compulsory until 2026 at the earliest.

However, the MTD regime will apply to all organisations that pay corporation tax; there will be no minimum turnover threshold as applies for income tax. There will be quarterly reporting of income and expenses, and a pilot to test the software will commence in 2024. HMRC will not provide free software for filing the corporation tax returns required under MTD.

Capital allowances
The annual investment allowance (AIA) cap is currently £1 million, and was due to reduce to £200,000 on 1 January 2021. This £1 million cap will now be extended to 31 December 2021.

R&D tax credits
There is currently no cap on the amount of R&D payable tax credit a small company can receive if their company has made a loss after deduction of their R&D claim. This will change for claim periods starting on and after 1 April 2021. The payable tax credit will be capped at three times the PAYE and NIC payable for the period plus £20,000. You need to factor this into cash flow forecasts for your clients.

CIS changes
The construction industry is facing a triple whammy of tax changes in 2021: VAT domestic reverse charge on 1 March, off-payroll and CIS reforms on 6 April.

The later changes may affect sub-contractor companies who claim their tax refund through RTI, and large businesses who could be classified as deemed contractors as they undertake more than £3 million of construction expenditure within 12 months.

There will also be new penalties for supplying false information to HMRC when applying for gross payment status or CIS registered status. This penalty will have a wide scope as it can be applied to any person who influences another to provide false information.


How to tell if you’ve paid too much Stamp Duty 

Stamp Duty Land Tax (or SDLT) has been big news lately, with the chancellor’s announcement in July of a ‘holiday’ on the tax for all properties of £500,000 or lower purchase price.

But what if you bought property at any price before July 2020? Can you be certain that you paid the right amount of Stamp Duty on your purchase? Might you be due a Stamp Duty Refund? And if so, how do you even go about getting one? 

There is no easy answer to the question of whether you may have overpaid your SDLT. With over 30 different exceptions and exemptions covering the type of property, its usage, the circumstances of the buyer and the nature of the purchase (to name a few), there is no one-size-fits-all equation that will instantly give the correct answer. 

Examples of factors which may prove relevant in the calculation of Stamp Duty on a property include: 

  • Land – if the property has land attached to it which is more than a simple garden. 
  • Mixed Usage – if the property has commercial buildings, agricultural land 
  • Annexes – many people fail to realise that a ‘granny annexe’ may qualify a property for relief under certain circumstances 
  • Any rights or interest over the land that do not benefit the dwelling itself i.e. commons rights to pass through over nearby parkland 

If your property has any of these elements, it is very possible that you will have overpaid your Stamp Duty Land Tax and may be due a refund. 

One well researched estimate* is that as many as one in five SDLT returns may be being incorrectly completed on property purchases, leading to millions of pounds of overpaid SDLT which HMRC will not proactively check. The only way to secure a refund of these overpaid monies is to approach HMRC with the correct assessment and seek an alteration of the original return based on the facts of the purchase. 

You may think that in order to make sure you didn’t overpay your SDLT, you simply need to call HMRC or your solicitor and double check with them. That’s where things start to get a little tricky. 

There are a number of reasons why solicitors are likely to make errors on many transactions, including relying on the HMRC calculator which doesn’t provide a 100% accurate picture on all properties. But solicitors also often simply don’t realise the actual complexity of SDLT as it stands. Because it shares a partial name with the old Stamp Duty, which was a broadly simple tax on the property itself rather than the individual, many of them assume it is the same.  

Additional problems arise from:

  • the proliferation of avoidance schemes set up in the early 2010s to take advantage of the increasingly labyrinthine legislation surrounding SDLT,; and
  • the aggressive stance taken on these by HMRC and the Solicitors Regulation Authorit.

Many accountants and solicitors are reluctant to make any more than the most cursory examination of the SDLT situation on any purchase, lest it result in unwelcome attention from their regulator. 

Calling HMRC introduces a whole other set of problems. HMRC helplines are not manned by people who are experts in SDLT. Or indeed law in general. Simple errors in basic understanding – such as confusing ‘civil partnerships’ with ‘common law partners’, can lead to disastrous errors. 

One must also remember that in order to assess a purchase for tax, HMRC will have relied on the SDLT return submitted to them, which itself will have been completed by the solicitor. HMRC itself has no knowledge of the property outside of what is provided on this form. Therefore, a purchaser calling them and asking if they are likely to have overpaid the SDLT on the property and be due a refund is only ever going to lead to the answer ‘no’. This is because HMRC will consider the property to have been correctly assessed based on the information they have. 

In order to firmly establish whether or not the SDLT on a purchase has been correctly assessed, you need a real SDLT expert to examine the details of the transaction – the type of property, the circumstances of the purchaser, the method of purchase, everything.  

They will then assess this against the full legislation relevant to the time of purchase, examining each of the various exemptions, exceptions and reliefs and ascertaining which, if any, apply. If any do. Then there must be a full report prepared along with an amended SDLT return, explaining exactly why the original assessment to SDLT was incorrect, what the actual position is, and what the amount of refund due should be.  

How do you tell if you’ve overpaid stamp duty? The same way you’d answer any specialist question – engage an expert and get them to give you the right answer.

David Hannah – SDLT expert. You can contact David via his profile here >>>>

*Research carried out by Cornerstone tax advisers.


Nudging the taxpayer

HMRC uses data from many sources to cross check information reported on self- assessment tax returns. It could open an enquiry every time a mis-match is found, but this is expensive in terms of person-hours, and the time it takes to collect any additional tax.

Instead HMRC is experimenting with sending a standard letter to the taxpayer where a mis-match in data is found. The letter doesn’t state exactly what is missing from the return, but it is designed to nudge the taxpayer to review and correct the return where necessary. HMRC call these “one to many” letters.

This approach is light on manpower as the letter is generated automatically by the computer and the onus is on the taxpayer and their agent to investigate the issue and take any action required.

HMRC is currently comparing the 2018/19 SA tax returns to various data sets and is sending out nudge letters covering the following issues:

  • Deemed domicile
  • Statutory residence
  • Discrepancies with employer reported pay and benefits
  • Disposal of residential property which was not the main home
  • Investment income from financial institutions
  • Deferred consideration on sale of private company shares
  • Income of persons with significant control of a company

It is important to note that the nudge letter does not amount to a formal opening of an enquiry, but it does require action as HMRC may follow-up if the tax return is not amended.


Adviser insights: Q&A with David Kirk – Employment status tax expert

How long have you been a tax adviser David?
18 years.

How did you come to specialise in payroll taxes and employment status issues?
Because, back then, I could see that nobody else knew much about this

Where were you working at the time?
I was already running what was then a more general accountancy practice.

What are the most common mistakes you see made by non-specialists in your area of tax?
Failure to know the law

What are the most valuable issues on which you have given advice?
IR35, expenses payments, CIS, managed service companies

What differences might you expect to see in the coming year that could impact those issues?
Public sector IR35 rules being extended to the private sector

What has been your worst experience with HMRC?
Creating unnecessary trouble by not knowing the law

What has been the most rewarding thing you have done from a tax perspective?
Getting HMRC to back down from making seven-figure claims

How would you describe your attitude to tax?
Pragmatic. I expect to see truth told and the law obeyed but otherwise see no moral issues

Which aspect of tax would you nominate for a silliest tax rule award?
The IR35 rules that mean you cannot offset tax paid under one headline against tax demanded under another.

What is the funniest tax related experience you have had?
My client losing a tax tribunal case but ending up making £75,000 out of it

What is your top tax tip for general practitioners?
With HMRC enquiries: get the strategy right, know your client, and know the inspector

If you hadn’t gone into tax what would you like to be doing now?
Law

What do you enjoy doing in your spare time – away from the world of tax?
Fell walking, opera, theology and talking politics

What have you most enjoyed about your career in tax?
Writing a book. [The 4th edition of David’s book “Employment Status – a tax guide” is published by Claritax]

You can reach David via his profile here >>


Tax deferrals and VAT rate

Income tax and VAT payments due in the summer of 2020 were both deferred automatically until 2021, with no interest or late payment penalties due. In both cases the taxpayer could pay the tax or VAT by the original due date if they wished to.

As a result of this deferral individual taxpayers will have the following amounts of tax due for payment by 31 January 2021:

  • a) Second payment on account 2019/20
  • b) Balancing payment 2019/20
  • c) Capital gains tax 2019/20 (if not paid under 30-day rule)
  • d) First payment on account 2020/21

It appears from the Chancellor’s statement that the taxpayer will be able to apply to defer items a) and d) in this list by spreading the payments over 12 monthly instalments to January 2022.

Where the total tax due doesn’t exceed £30,000 the application to spread these tax payments will be agreed automatically when the taxpayer applies using an online form. If the total tax due exceeds £30,000, or the taxpayer needs longer to pay, the taxpayer will be able to call HMRC to agree a bespoke payment plan.

Where a business deferred VAT due in the period from 20 March to 30 June 2020, that VAT will be payable by 31 March 2021. The business will now be able apply to spread the deferred VAT payment over 11 equal instalments payable between April 2021 and March 2022. This deferred VAT will not be subject to interest if the payments are made as agreed.

Finally, the reduced 5% rate of VAT for the hospitality and tourist sector was due to revert to 20% on 13 January 2021. The Chancellor has decided to extend this period of 5% VAT up to and including 31 March 2021. This will make accounting for the reduced rate far easier as the VAT rate will change at the beginning of a month.