HMRC have published Agent Update 120 for May 2024. Here is our summary of the highlights in direct and indirect tax announcements affecting SME owners and advisers.
SME Tax News
The Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has announced that the general election will be held on 4 July 2024. As a result, ongoing live consultative work with stakeholders will be paused during the pre-election period. 2024 is another interesting year for tax advisers and it's highly probable that any winner of the election will hold an Autumn budget.
Attempts to claim EIS disposal relief on share buybacks were denied by the First Tier Tribunal (FTT). The FTT determined that the Transactions in Securities (TiS) legislation applied because the main purpose of the transaction was to obtain an Income Tax advantage.
When is a loan write-off, not a write-off? One of the oddest Income Tax appeals so far this year concerned a director's claim that his loan has never been written off. The First Tier Tribunal (FTT) found a muddled trail and concluded that company records and minutes were falsified and no write-off had ever occurred.
An appeal against a £14m penalty for failure to meet VAT record-keeping requirements on the physical delivery of gold bullion was successful. The Upper Tribunal (UT) agreed that there was no delivery of any bullion and therefore no record-keeping requirement relating to delivery.
Applications are open to businesses for grants of up to £10,000 from the Welsh government's Future Proofing Fund. The fund will provide eligible micro, small and medium-sized businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors with a discretionary grant to be invested in measures to future-proof the business.
HMRC have rejected the proposal that a 'brightline test' could be introduced when the Furnished Holiday Letting (FHL) regime is abolished in April 2025. The idea was that a simple test could set criteria to assist taxpayers in establishing the boundary between property letting and trading, a topic that has foxed both taxpayers and tax tribunals for decades.
The High Court intervened to interpret a will where a number or charities that were the subject of gifts were incorrectly named. In all cases, the court identified a suitable body to receive the gift left in the will, with the result that none of the gifts failed.
HMRC have issued 'Help with football agents' fees and dual representation contracts'. These are guidelines on dealing with fees charged by football agents when a player transfers from one club to another or when a playing contract is negotiated with their current club.
Hello,
We have all been at the Accountex show this week. It has been very well attended, and now that we are over the COVID slump it seems that almost everyone is out and about and back to 'in-person' events. It's great to be back networking, hearing feedback from our lovely subscribers and and it gives a us a good chance to demonstrate our amazing tax resources to potential new customers.
