
SME Tax News
An unusual claim for Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) Multiple Dwelling Relief focused on a curious aspect of the rules: could a garage in the process of being constructed or adapted at completion qualify as a separate dwelling?

The Welsh government has announced that the Food and Drink Festivals and Events Fund 2024 is now open for applicants. The small grant scheme aims to support festivals and events that enhance the Welsh food and drink industry. Successful applicants could secure funding of up to £15,000.

Some self-employed taxpayers who made voluntary class 2 National Insurance Contributions (NICs) for 2022/23 have received an unexpected refund from HMRC: this may have been an error.
A loan made to a taxpayer by his pension scheme produced an unexpected unauthorised payment charge together with an unauthorised payment surcharge as the pension scheme member had received a benefit before his normal retirement age.
HMRC have cautioned that Form 484 has been used to fraudulently access VAT repayments.
On 29 April 2024, HMRC introduced a new digital service, enabling taxpayers to conveniently check their State Pension forecast and make voluntary contributions to address gaps in their National Insurance (NI) record.

Attempts to make Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) claims using calculations for fixed-rate employees were rejected by the First Tier Tribunal (FTT). The employees did not meet the definition of a fixed-rate employee.

The First Tier Tribunal (FTT) has heard details of a VAT and NICs tax appeal test case featuring 'Mini-Umbrella Companies (MUCs)' run by Filipino directors. The scheme, created by UK advisers, after taking the opinion of a KC, was promoted on Facebook and facilitated the making of fraudulent claims for agency workers after setting up VAT and PAYE records and taking advantage of HMRC's systems.

The First Tier Tribunal (FTT) found that a shareholder with a 4.99998% shareholding qualified for Entrepreneurs’ Relief (ER). A spreadsheet rounding error meant that 5% was not held, but the FTT decided that the High Court would have rectified this mistake, meaning that ER was available.