The Finance Act
Finance Act 2021
The full text of the Act as enacted on 10 June 2021.
The Finance Bill
Finance (No. 2) Bill 2019–21
Text of the latest and previous versions of the Bill, accompanied by explanatory notes, and record of its progress through parliament. The Bill was first published on 11 March 2021.
The draft legislation for the Bill originally named Finance Bill 2020–21 was published on 21 July 2020. Further draft legislation for the renamed Finance Bill 2021 was published on 12 November 2020. Supporting documents for each of these periods have been collated separately under Finance Bill 2021 collection and Finance Bill 2020–21 collection.
Timeline of drafts and ICAEW representations
Draft Finance Bill 2021 and ICAEW responses
Draft legislation published for Finance Bill 2020–21
21 July 2020, HM Treasury and HMRC
Draft legislation, supporting documents and tax information and impact notes (TIIN) covering proposed measures on income tax, corporation tax, SDLT and ATED, VAT, anti-avoidance, and other issues.
ICAEW REP 69/20 Tackling promoters of tax avoidance
15 September 2020, ICAEW
ICAEW representation responding to the draft legislation. It highlights key issues and concerns with Disclosure of Tax Avoidance Schemes (DOTAS) and Promoters of Tax Avoidance Schemes (POTAS), concluding that measures will need to be targeted carefully so that they impact only upon Promoters and not upon the vast majority of bona fide agents who, in principle, should support the proposed approach.
ICAEW REP 79/20 Tackling disguised remuneration tax avoidance: Call for evidence
30 September 2020, ICAEW
ICAEW representation responding to the draft legislation. It provides general comments about the proposals on the usage of disguised remuneration schemes, the role of the public sector, and offshore promoters.
ICAEW REP 88/20 Finance Bill 2020-21: Tax avoidance measures and new tax checks
7 October 2020, ICAEW
Written evidence from ICAEW Tax Faculty to the House of Lords Select Committee on Economic Affairs Finance Bill Sub-committee. It addresses new proposals for tackling promoters and enablers of tax avoidance schemes, new tax checks on licence renewal applications, amendments to HMRC's civil information powers, and notification of uncertain tax treatments.
ICAEW REP 90/20 Pension tax relief administration
9 October 2020, ICAEW
ICAEW representation responding to the draft legislation. It comments on the suggested approaches and highlights one – paying a bonus using RTI data – as most worthy of consideration. The faculty questions whether it is the appropriate time to make potentially complex changes to the tax relief for pension contributions regime to benefit a specific group.
ICAEW REP 91/20 The scope of qualifying expenditures for R&D tax credits
12 October 2020, ICAEW
ICAEW representation responding to the draft legislation. It concludes that the current economic climate is not a good time for many British industries to implement restrictions on available tax reliefs and it is important that industries such as life sciences do not receive less government support and investment in them continues to be encouraged in the public interest.
ICAEW REP 92/20 Economic Crime Levy: funding new government action to tackle money laundering
13 October 2020, ICAEW
ICAEW representation responding to the draft legislation. It responds to consultation questions on levy principles, spending the levy funds, levy calculation, collecting the levy, and funding for fraud.
Further draft legislation published for Finance Bill 2021
12 November 2020, HM Treasury and HMRC
Draft legislation, supporting documents and tax information and impact notes (TIIN) covering proposed measures on the withdrawal of LIBOR and other benchmark rates, corporation tax, R&D tax relief for SMEs, plastic packaging tax, and the Construction Industry Scheme.
ICAEW REP 01/21 Research and development tax relief for SMEs (Draft Finance Bill 2021)
6 January 2021, ICAEW
ICAEW representation responding to the draft legislation. It makes two recommendations: reduce the scope for the measure to be abused through non-payment of PAYE and NIC liabilities; and clarify and simplify the intellectual property exception by the inclusion of a purpose test.
ICAEW REP 05/21 - Construction industry scheme (Draft Finance Bill 2021)
7 January 2021, ICAEW
ICAEW representation responding to the draft legislation. It recommends that draft secondary legislation guidance and IT specifications should be published as soon as possible to enable businesses to plan and for software developers to make necessary changes. Consideration should be given to deferring commencement until April 2022. The faculty reiterates its concerns about the proposals for materials.
Measures with effect from 3 March 2021
3 March 2021, HM Treasury and HMRC
Details of measures announced in Budget 2021 on repeal of provisions relating to the Interest and Royalties Directive and new temporary tax reliefs on qualifying capital asset investments from 1 April 2021.
Notes on Finance Bill resolutions 2021
3 March 2021, HMRC
Explanatory notes giving a brief description of each of the Finance Bill resolutions.
Budget 2021
Date for Budget set for 3 March 2021
17 December 2020, HM Treasury
The Chancellor announces that the government will publish Budget 2021 on 3 March 2021.
ICAEW hub: Budget 2021
See ICAEW's analysis of key announcements, explainer webinars, and news. Also includes ICAEW's letter to the Chancellor ahead of Budget 2021 and representation to the Treasury.
Finance (No. 2) Bill
Finance Bill 2021 published
11 March 2021, HM Treasury
Announcement of the Finance (No. 2) Bill with a summary of measures.
ICAEW REP 35/21 Finance (No. 2) Bill 2019-21 Clause 9 (Super-deductions and other temporary first-year allowances)
12 April 2021, ICAEW
ICAEW briefing submitted to MPs highlighting concerns about the exclusion of leased assets.
ICAEW REP 36/21 Finance (No. 2) Bill 2019-21 Clause 18 and Schedule 2 (Temporary extension of periods to which trade losses may be carried back)
12 April 2021, ICAEW
ICAEW briefing submitted to MPs. It focuses specifically on the attempt to ensure that UK furnished holiday letting (FHL) businesses can off-set trading losses from 2020/21 and 2021/22 over the previous three years.
ICAEW REP 37/21 Finance (No. 2) Bill 2019-21 Clause 22 (Payments on termination of employment)
12 April 2021, ICAEW
ICAEW briefing submitted to MPs outlining concerns relating to the method of calculation of post-employment notice pay.
ICAEW REP 38/21 Finance (No. 2) Bill 2019-21 Clause 30 and Schedule 6 (Construction industry scheme)
12 April 2021, ICAEW
ICAEW briefing submitted to MPs. It recommends that changes should be deferred until April 2022 to give businesses time to prepare and highlights concerns relating to the proposals for materials.
ICAEW REP 39/21 Penalties for failure to pay tax (Finance (No. 2) Bill 2019-21 Clause 113 and Schedule 25)
12 April 2021, ICAEW
ICAEW briefing submitted to MPs. It argues that the proposed late payment penalty regime is overly complex and recommends that the measure be simplified.
ICAEW REP 42/21 Finance (No. 2) Bill 2019-21 Clause 122: Financial institution notices
22 April 2021, ICAEW
ICAEW briefing submitted to MPs. It outlines concerns that established self-assessment taxpayer safeguards will be overridden if there is no requirement for HMRC to obtain prior approval from a tribunal or the taxpayer.
Finance Act 2021
The Bill received Royal Assent on 10 June 2021 and became the Finance Act 2021.
Commentary from firms and other external resources
Tax experts have produced analysis of the clauses from the initial release of the draft clauses through to the passage of the Bill through Parliament.
BDO Finance Bill 2020-21
A summary of key proposals on tax reforms and the draft legislation and consultations.
KPMG Tax Matters Digest
A bi-weekly newsletter covering UK tax developments with KPMG's analysis. Key commentary on the Finance Bill 2021 include:
- Finance Bill 2021 – L-day (27 July 2020)
- Legislation Day 2020: employment taxes round up (27 July 2020)
- The SDLT surcharge for overseas buyers (27 July 2020)
- Scope of qualifying expenditure for R&D tax credits: Consultation (27 July 2020)
- MTD: VAT scope extended and income tax start date announced (27 July 2020)
- An update on various tax measures (16 November 2020)
- Finance Bill 2021 (15 March 2021)
- Proposed FB 2021 changes to the UK hybrid mismatch rules (29 March 2021)
- FB: Corporation tax – enhanced capital allowances for computer software (29 March 2021)
- Finance Bill 2021 Progress (26 April 2021)
- Finance Bill 2021 update: Further amendments tabled (24 May 2021)
- Extension of super-deduction to leased background plant (24 May 2021)
Articles and books in the Library collection
To find out how you can borrow books from the Library please see our guide to book loans.
You can obtain copies of articles or extracts of books and reports through our document supply service.
Archive
The Library holds an extensive collection of Finance Acts (from the 19th century onwards), Finance Bills (from 1951 onwards), Debates on the Finance Bill as recorded in Hansard, and Standing Committee Debates on the Finance Bills (from 1968 onwards). Alongside this you can also find many publications from the ICAEW and other bodies on the Finance Acts.
We also maintain an online archive of links and resources for Finance Acts 1980–1999 and for Finance Acts 2000–2004.
See LibCat, our online catalogue, for details of our holdings of:
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