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| Latest News | | Online Filing Up by 10% (posted: 1-2-12) | | | There has been a 10% increase in the number of Tax Returns filed online so far this year (more than seven million people).
A spokesman for HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) said it had received 7,002,748 Tax Returns online by 30 January compared to 6,334,956 a year earlier. Nearly 400,000 people filed Tax Returns on 30 January.
The usual deadline for submitting Tax Returns is 31 January. However, HMRC has said it will not fine anyone submitting Tax Returns on either 1st or 2nd February because of a strike today by HMRC call-centre workers.
Last year around, 600,000 people filed Tax Returns on deadline day but a shortage of call-centre staff to deal with taxpayer questions meant the number this year is expected to be much lower.
HMRC said that the most common mistakes made by taxpayers when filing Tax Returns online include mistaking the HMRC web page calculating tax due for the year for confirmation that the Tax Return has been submitted and using punctuation or pressing the return key when entering information about their pension provider, which causes an error message.
| | | | 400,000 Returns Filed Despite Strike (posted: 1-2-12) | | | Over 400,000 Tax Returns were filed online yesterday (31 January) despite a strike by HMRC call centre workers.
A spokesman for HMRC said that some 443,543 returns were filed online on compared to about 600,000 on the same day a year earlier.
By midnight last night, there was an increase of almost 8% last year with 7,446,291 online Tax Returns had been submitted.
The strike held by the call centre workers is in protest over the appointment of private-sector companies to run call-handling trials in two call-centres.
PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said in a statement: The strong support for the strike shows our members do not want their jobs and the essential services they provide undermined by privatisation.
HMRC denied it is privatising existing call centre jobs. It has said the call-centre trial is about considering options to improve services to the public.
| | | | 50p Tax Rate Unlikely to be Cut (posted: 30-1-12) | | | Te Mayor of Londdon, Boris Johnson, has said it is unlikely that he will put an end to the 50p tax rate in the current climate but warned the City must be able to compete internationally.
In a recent interview, reported by The Telepgraph, Johnson said, I dont see any sign of it going soon.
Adding it was probably unlikely that the tax would not be cut in the current climate and that he didnt see any sign of it going soon.
David Cameron said he still regarded the rate as a temporary measure but accepted it could not be scrapped until after the 2015 general election.
| | | | Cut to Corporation Tax to Boost Economy (posted: 30-1-12) | | | The Centre for Policy Studies has said that slashing Corporation Tax would boost the economy.
It wants the Government to cut the main rate of Corporation Tax from 26% to as little as 20% in the years Budget. The Chancellor is looking to cut the rate to 23% by 2014.
In an article in the Telegrpah, the Centre stated, A cut in the rate to 20% would be a quantum leap towards encouraging the enterprise economy which this country needs.
| | | | Tax Threshold Increase Could Cost £11 Billion (posted: 30-1-12) | | | Tax Partner at PwC, Alex Henderson, has warned that raising the Income Tax threshold to £10,000, beyond existing plans, could cost £11 billion.
A £100 increase in the personal allowance is estimated by HMRC to cost at least £0.5 billion. To raise the tax threshold further and faster beyond existing plans would cost £11 billion, he said.
Hendersons comments came in response to a speech made by Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, in which he urged the Government to go further and faster in raising the tax threshold.
The Government has promised to raise the Income Tax threshold to £10,000 by the next election (set for 2015). Clegg argued that the plans should be accelerated because the pressure on family finances is reaching boiling point.
According to Henderson, unless the measures suggested by Clegg were paid for out of improved tax receipts from growth or from borrowing, there would need to be significant cuts in reliefs or tax rises elsewhere.
To illustrate the scale of the measure, a further increase in VAT to 22% would just about meet this gap, he said.
| | | | Rule Changes on VAT Returns (posted: 30-1-12) | | | Small business owners are reminded that from this Spring, all VAT Returns must be submitted online as paper Returns are to be made a thing of the past.
At present, only businesses that are newly registered or have a turnover of more than £100,00 are required to submit their VAT Returns online and pay electronically. Anyone else can submit a paper Return. This is to change from April when all 1.9 million UK businesses will have to sumbit VAT Returns online and pay electronically for accounting periods beginning on or afer 1 April 2012.
| | | | Self Assessment Deadline Date Extended (posted: 30-1-12) | | | A Government minister has said that people filing their Self Assessment Tax Returns on 1st or 2nd February will not be unfairly fined.
This extension is an acknowledgement that strike action planned by some HMRC staff on 31 January will cause staff shortages at call centres meaning thtat thousands of taxpayers with queries on their Returns would be unable to get answers and as a result, delay the filing of their Returns until after the deadline date.
In a statementm David Gauke, Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, This strike could have caused thousands of people to incur fines, so I am pleased that HMRC has taken this common sense approach. The Government does not want anyone trying to file their tax return on time to be unfairly penalised because they were unable to get through for help and advice on the 31st [January].
Acting Director General of Personal Tax, Stephen Banyard, said, Weve always been very clear that we want the returns - not the penalties. For that reason, we dont want anyone who cant get through for help and advice on 31 January to be disadvantaged in any way.
| | | | Late Tax Returns Could Net £93 Million (posted: 25-1-12) | | | Accountancy firm Blick Rothenberg, has warned that HMRC could net £93 million in fines from Tax Returns that are filed late.
Frank Nash, Senior Tax Partner at Blick Rothenberg, told the Independent, Maximising penalities is now an obligation for revenue offices. HMRC will not show any leniency on penalties.
The firms estimates that HMRC could net up to £9.3 million per day under new fines, which includes a penalty of £1,600 for offenders that are twelve months late, a substantial hike from its usual £200.
In a letter to The Independent, HMRC director Stephen Hardwick said: We use penalties purely to encourage on-time filing and to be fair to the vast majority of taxpayers who file on time.
Late payers will be hit by much heavier fines this year.
| | | | Firm Calls for Overhaul of Inheritance Tax (posted: 25-1-12) | | | According to the firm, Grant Thornton, fewer people are liable for Inheritance Tax than is commonly thought.
Grant Thorntons survey of 400 homeowners with properties valued over £250,000 found a high level of confusion about who pays the tax with 62% believing they were liable when in fact, just 3% of UK estates were subject to Inheritance Tax in 2010/11 according to HMRC.
This has caused the firm for a full review of UK Inheritance Tax to either scrap the current system or make significant changes to it make it simpler and fairer for future generations.
The majority of people surveyed (86%) supported introducing an exemption for the main residence.
Replacing Inheritance Tax with green taxes (41%) was the most popular alternative to Inheritance Tax. The least popular alternative was an annual tax on wealth.
Francesca Lagerberg, head of tax at Grant Thornton, said: The results of our poll show that people are confused about the current IHT system and as a result there is a real feeling of dissatisfaction. What started off in 1986 as a straightforward system has become a complex maze of traps for the unwary and therefore people resent it.
| | | | CGT Relief Called For (posted: 25-1-12) | | | A trade association has said that the Chancellor should extend the relief on CGT in the March Budget in order to encourage private sector growth.
The Quoted Companies Alliance (QCA), which represents UK small and medium-sized companies, has called on the Government to scrap a restriction on Entrepreneurs Relief, which reduces the CGT rate on the disposal of business assets and shares from 28% to 10%.
Currently, only employees and officers that have a 5% shareholding can qualify. This, according to the QCA, penalises those working in a high-capital and high-growth business that attracts a great deal of outside investment.
The QCA said that the Government should scrap the anomalous 5% requirement in order to stimulate growth in the UK economy by rewarding employees contributions in growing the value of the businesses they work for.
To fund this relief extension and ensure it promotes long-term investment, the QCA said that the period that shares have to be held before qualifying for relief should be extended from one to three years.
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