SME Tax News

HMRC have released statistics showing the number and amount of investments made under the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS), Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) and Social Investment Tax Relief (SITR) scheme.

HMRC have published new advisory fuel rates for company car drivers which apply from 1 June 2021. Most rates have increased from the rates applicable for the previous three months.

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has upheld Amazon's appeal against the European Commission's (EC) ruling that an Amazon royalty pricing arrangement agreed with the Luxembourg tax authorities was overstated. The EC had held that the reduction in profits amounted to receiving the equivalent of €250 million of State Aid.

In John Douglas Wardle v HMRC [2021] TC08105, the First Tier Tribunal (FTT) dismissed an appeal against HMRC closure notices denying Entrepreneurs’ Relief as pre-trading activities were insufficient to render the partnership disposal the disposal of a business.

In Michael and Anthea Mullane v HMRC [2021] TC08100, the First Tier Tribunal (FTT) dismissed an appeal against HMRC closure notices denying Multiple Dwellings Relief (MDR) on the purchase of a property with an annexe. The cooking facilities were of insufficient quality to allow the annexe to be occupied as a separate dwelling.

The Office for Tax Simplification (OTS) has published ‘Simplifying practical, technical and administrative issues’, its second report on Capital Gains Tax (CGT). It recommends extensions to certain reliefs and a new 60-day deadline for paying and reporting CGT on residential property sales.

In Derek Storey v HMRC [2021] TC08090, the First Tier Tribunal (FTT) denied the taxpayer’s claims to deduct employment-related expenses owing to a lack of evidence to support them.

In Nael Khatoun v HMRC [2021] TC08085, the First Tier Tribunal (FTT) found that the purchase of a residential property with access to a communal garden was subject to residential rates of Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) and not mixed-use rates.