A nation of willing taxpayers?
7th October 2020
According to the official tax gap figures for 2018/19 published on 9 July this year, the UK is one of the most tax-compliant nations on Earth. The latest official estimate of the tax gap – which is...
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Can HMRC be compelled to keep to its word?
7th May 2020
Can a taxpayer require HMRC to do what it has said it will do, even if it is wrong or based on a mistaken view of the law?
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HMRC but not as you know them...
5th May 2020
Over the last month HMRC have swiftly changed from a tax collection machine to a money distribution centre and they have carried this out admirably.
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Discovery assessments must be 'new' and not 'stale'
7th April 2020
Under TMA 1970, s 29, HMRC can raise an assessment where it ‘discovers’ that:
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Stalin ate my homework: Reasonable excuse and the Self Assessment deadline
4th February 2020
As the title of Alexei Sayle’s acclaimed autobiography reminds us, school teachers are used to feeble excuses. So is HMRC. Each year on its website, we are entertained by examples of excuses offered...
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HMRC urged to learn from complaints
By Robin Williamson
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HMRC
2nd July 2019
In her Annual Report for 2019, the Adjudicator Helen Megarry describes improvements in her Office, both in how complaints from the public are handled and in the time taken to deal with them. She...
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The ‘digital exclusion’ exemption for MTD: Its origin and scope
By Robin Williamson
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HMRC
5th December 2018
Of the recommendations of the recent Report on Making Tax Digital for VAT: Treating small businesses fairly by the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee (Finance Bill Sub-Committee), one in...
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HMRC review HICBC failure to notify penalties
By Robin Williamson
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HMRC
20th November 2018
HMRC’s announcement that they would review certain cases where penalties were charged on taxpayers who had failed to register for the high income child benefit charge (HICBC), and refund them...
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The disguised remuneration loan charge: ‘No legal or moral basis’ or a fair anti-avoidance measure?
By Robin Williamson
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HMRC
15th November 2018
The loan charge is an attempt to tax certain so-called ‘disguised remuneration’ schemes under which employees, workers or contractors are paid not through wages or salary subject to payroll taxes,...
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Can HMRC guidance be relied upon?
By Robin Williamson
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HMRC
14th November 2018
The Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) has published a timely report entitled ‘Guidance for taxpayers: a vision for the future’. The report’s vision is for guidance geared to the needs of users,...
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