ICAEW insights, technical guidance and news updates on tax measures affecting UK tax compliance and changes to contacting HMRC during the COVID-19 pandemic.
23 November 2020: Lucy Sauvage, a Director in BDO’s Tax Risk team talks to ICAEW’s Tax Faculty and answers key questions about the effect of the pandemic on risks relating to the corporate criminal offence (CCO) and what organisations need to be thinking about.
10 November: HMRC data reveals the extent to which service performance and compliance activity have been impacted by the diversion of resources to deliver COVID-19 support schemes.
3 November 2020: ICAEW is acutely aware of the pressure on member firms as the self assessment filing deadline approaches. The Tax Faculty is seeking members’ views on the options, to inform its discussions with HMRC.
28 October: The digitalisation of tax offers significant potential benefits for taxpayers and agents, as well as administrations, but these will not be achieved without collaboration agree industry experts at the Wyman Symposium.
Updated 15 October: Employees required to work from home can have a £6 per week or £26 per month allowance paid tax-free by employers or, during the pandemic, can claim a deduction from earnings for this allowance, HMRC has confirmed.
12 October 2020: HMRC is recalculating top slicing relief on life insurance policy chargeable event gains for 2018/19 but some taxpayers will need to submit an amendment. An HMRC webinar will provide further information.
10 September 2020: Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer are hosting a webinar “What's the point of purpose tests?” to raise funds for the Bridge the Gap campaign on 8 October.
3 September: The diversion of resources to deliver the government’s coronavirus support schemes had a significant impact on HMRC’s service performance in Q2, with call waiting times reaching close to 12 minutes.
13 August: The coronavirus pandemic has forced all organisations to adapt to a completely new way of working. What are its long-term implications for accountants?
19 June: ICAEW’s Tax Faculty is calling on members to share their views on raising standards in the tax advice market, tackling abuse of tax relief and improving HMRC’s charter.
15 June: The deferral of VAT payments due to coronavirus comes to an end on 30 June and businesses need to take action to reinstate their direct debit mandates, reminds ICAEW’s Tax Faculty.
8 June: Call waiting times on HMRC support lines were up 25% in the first quarter of the year as data reveals that customer service performance had fallen before lockdown.
18 May: In line with its updated guidance on appealing penalties, HMRC has amended its commentary on DAC6 to clarify how 'reasonable excuse’ will apply in relation to the coronavirus pandemic.
11 May: Taxpayers may have an additional three months to appeal HMRC decisions or penalties where the usual 30-day deadline cannot be met due to the coronavirus pandemic.
11 May: HMRC has updated its guidance on when taxpayers have a reasonable excuse for late filing of returns or late payment of tax to include being affected by coronavirus.
Updated 11 May 2020: ICAEW’s Tax Faculty summarises what we know so far about communicating and transacting with HMRC during the COVID-19 crisis.
20 April: ICAEW’s Tax Faculty highlights current issues and reminders for agents, including: non-resident landlords, quarterly instalment payments, tax credit renewals, child benefit claims, ATED and the construction industry scheme.
14 April 2020: HMRC has announced that it will temporarily accept email communications from taxpayers in certain circumstances.
6 April: Appellants to the First-tier Tax Tribunal have been asked to submit appeals online due to the ongoing coronavirus measures.
31 March: Digital scammers are using coronavirus support measures to target individuals with bogus emails and texts claiming to be from HMRC.