Rishi Sunak delivered his first Budget of 2020 on 11 March. The Tax Faculty provides its summary of all the key tax announcements in this TAXguide.

11 March 2020: the Chancellor announced he will continue to use the tax system to support genuine risk-taking and creativity where it is proven to be effective.

10 February 2020: whispers of reforms to entrepreneurs’ relief in the upcoming Budget have brought out supporters and detractors to the current regime. But what benefits does the controversial relief bring to business? And what good would scrapping it do?

12 November 2020: The UK government is extending the £1m annual investment allowance cap for a further year in a bid to stimulate investment.

24 August: ICAEW members working in business and non-profits, and those who are unemployed, have been given access to more than 60 tax and accountancy titles from Bloomsbury until the end of October.

An overview of the cash accounting scheme for VAT and how it interacts with MTD

HMRC's vision to digitalise the UK tax system is well underway. The transformation started in April 2019 with Making Tax Digital (MTD) for VAT for businesses with taxable turnover above the VAT threshold.

In TAXguide 14/18, Sue Moore answers a selection of the key questions raised by viewers of the Tax Faculty webinar ‘property tax update’’, broadcast on 9 July 2018.

13 November: HMRC has published draft Finance Bill legislation to tighten up the construction industry scheme (CIS).

27 August: HMRC’s plans to tackle abuse of the construction industry scheme (CIS) would create a burden disproportionate to the relatively small amount of revenue at stake and affect many compliant businesses, ICAEW has warned.

The construction sector is again under the spotlight. Tim Palmer and Mark Rubinson of Arram Berlyn Gardner review in depth the forthcoming tax changes. They look at the basics of the construction industry scheme, how the changes affect contractors and subcontractors, and illustrate their points using three examples.

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.

13 November: The Treasury has published a series of tax announcements on issues ranging from the plastic packaging tax to the implications of withdrawing LIBOR. ICAEW’s Tax Faculty provides a summary.

12 November 2020: HMRC has published the long-awaited consultation on Making Tax Digital for corporation tax (MTD for CT), confirming its plans for rolling out MTD. Meanwhile, consultation on more timely payment and the tax administration framework has been delayed to Spring 2021.

15 September 2020: The automatic extension of Companies House filing deadlines in light of the coronavirus pandemic provides breathing space for SAOs.

19 November: Legislation will come into force on 8 December providing a temporary exemption from income tax and national insurance on coronavirus antigen tests provided to employees.

3 November: HMRC has confirmed that Enterprise Management Incentive (EMI) schemes will continue to be available after 31 December 2020 under UK law.

Frank Haskew, Head of the Tax Faculty, reviews the tax opportunities – with a focus on VAT reform – that may be available from 1 January 2021. He looks at the likelihood of VAT being abolished, eliminating the zero rate, higher rates of VAT and reducing the VAT threshold among other things.

28 October 2020: HMRC has introduced a workaround for those who have been unable to obtain a national insurance number and need to register a self-employment and obtain a Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR).

7 September: ICAEW’s Tax Faculty is calling on members to share their views on UK VAT grouping provisions to support an HM Treasury call for evidence.

24 August: ICAEW members working in business and non-profits, and those who are unemployed, have been given access to more than 60 tax and accountancy titles from Bloomsbury until the end of October.

17 November 2020: Draft legislation confirms a new cap to reduce the number of fraudulent claims for research and development tax credits by SMEs, largely in line with consultation proposals.

12 October 2020: ICAEW has backed plans to review qualifying R&D expenditure to ensure it’s well targeted and reflects modern processes but encouraged HMRC to consider how it might reform R&D relief to support all industries.

10 September 2020: HMRC has confirmed how costs relating to furloughed employees should be treated for the purposes of the R&D tax relief schemes. The Tax Faculty outlines the guidance.

28 October 2020: HMRC has introduced a workaround for those who have been unable to obtain a national insurance number and need to register a self-employment and obtain a Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR).

6 July: Businesses eligible for the first Self-employment Income Support (SEISS) grant must make their claim by Monday 13 July, ICAEW reminds members.

23 June: The collection of Class 2 national insurance contributions (NICs) will not be fixed soon after HMRC said costs and plans for IT systems were preventing a solution.

22 June: HMRC is writing to one million tax credit claimants whose renewal packs omitted some information, as ICAEW urges self-employed claimants to check whether they need to contact HMRC by 31 July.