News
June 2008
Top Tax Writer Award for Neil
Neil Warren was today confirmed as the 2008 LexisNexis Tax Writer of the Year at a prestigious ceremony held at the London Hilton Hotel in Park Lane. Neil was selected for the final four from an initial nomination list of 70 tax professionals and on the day won the award ahead of other acclaimed national figures. The LexisNexis awards are acknowledged as the most coveted awards in the tax industry.
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Voluntary Disclosure Correction of Errors
The existing £2,000 de minimis limit for notifying errors in writing to HMRC is increased from 1 July 2008.
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Immigration Update - April 2008
EMPLOYERS APPLICATION PROCESS FOR LICENCE AS A SPONSOR GETS UNDERWAY AS PART OF PROPOSED REPLACEMENT OF EXISTING WORK PERMIT SCHEME
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P11D Deadline Looming
The forms P11D, which report employees and directors benefits in kind and expenses, are due for submission by 6 July 2008 for the year ended 5 April 2008. The process of tracking down the information can take some time so it is important that you don’t leave things until the last minute.
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Update on Residence and Domicile
The government will implement a package of reforms announced in the 2007 Pre-Budget Report subject to certain changes. The measures will take effect from 6 April 2008.
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‘Income Shifting’ Legislation Delayed
The introduction of the proposed legislation on ‘income shifting’ has been delayed until April 2009.
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Reduced Rate for Smoking Cessation Products
A reduced 5% VAT rate for ‘over the counter’ sales of smoking cessation products was introduced from 1 July 2007 for a period of one year only. The government has announced that the 5% reduced rate will continue to apply.
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Implementation Date Change for Rights During Maternity Leave
Following changes being made to the Sex Discrimination Act and, later this year, to the Maternity and Parental Leave Regulations, the law on contractual terms of employment during Additional Maternity Leave (AML) is due to change in respect of women whose babies are due on or after 5 October 2008. HMRC had previously advised that this change would be effective for babies due from 6 April 2008.
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National Minimum Wage Increases
The National Minimum Wage will rise to £5.73 (£5.52) an hour in October 2008.
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Homeworking Costs Increase
From 6 April 2008, HMRC has increased the tax and NIC free guideline rate that employers can pay home working employees without keeping records from £2 to £3 per week.
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Entrepreneurs’ Relief
After business leaders voiced their objections to the abolition of taper relief, the Chancellor introduced a new Entrepreneurs’ Relief (ER). ER may be available for disposals, reorganisations and relevant transactions taking place on or after 6 April 2008.
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Employment Support Allowance
With school and college students preparing to start the summer term and sit final examinations, the CBI has published the results of a new annual audit of the nation’s skills.
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Employees Entitled to Know More
The Information and Consultation of Employees Regulations 2004 have been extended to cover undertakings with 50 or more employees from 6 April 2008.
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Marks & Spencer VAT Win
M&S have won a landmark victory in the European Court of Justice. The case concerned whether or not HMRC were correct to limit the amount of VAT they repaid to the company after their chocolate teacakes were reclassified as a cake rather than a chocolate biscuit. The issue of cakes and chocolate biscuits is an important one as it means they are zero rated rather than standard rated. The case dates back many years.
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10% Tax Rate Climb Down
We live in quite amazing times in the world of tax. Over a year ago, in Gordon Brown’s last Budget speech as Chancellor, the so-called ‘abolition’ of the 10% starting rate was announced. The government’s reason for this was, and still remains, the simplification of the tax system.
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Payroll Changes and Personal Allowances
Chancellor Alistair Darling has announced an increase in the personal allowance of £600 and an adjustment to the higher rate threshold (the total of the personal allowance and basic rate limit) as reported in the earlier article, ‘10% tax rate climb down’.
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