SME Tax News

A new report from the Institute of Fiscal Studies, 'Reforming Inheritance Tax', suggests that abolishing Inheritance Tax will return £1 million to the richest one per cent of UK estates, while losing the Treasury £7 billion in tax revenues.

HMRC have issued their Agent Update for September 2023. We have summarised the key content for you with links to our detailed guidance on the topics covered.

In Vitalie Milasenco  v HMRC [2023] TC 08862, the First Tier Tribunal (FTT) confirmed HMRC's actions as reasonable on Income Tax assessments and penalties for the deliberate failure to declare income by a long-time online seller who persistently failed to declare his income.

In Bull Brand Ltd v HMRC [2023] TC8928, the First Tier Tribunal (FTT) refused the application for an out-of-time appeal against HMRC's rejection of an error correction notice in relation to the correct VAT rate for e-cigarettes. The prejudice to the appellant did not outweigh the seriousness of the delay.

In Delpha Derivatives Limited v HMRC [2023] TC8912, the First Tier Tribunal (FTT) dismissed an appeal against penalties for inaccuracies in PAYE returns for contributions to an Employee Benefit Trust (EBT). The taxpayer had acted carelessly initially, and then deliberately, by continuing to contribute after HMRC had already opened an enquiry into the scheme as well as issuing a Spotlight about their views on the scheme.

In Henderson Acquisitions Ltd v HMRC [2023] TC08922, HMRC's argument that for SDLT purposes a property that was a dwelling will continue to be a dwelling unless it is so uninhabitable that it requires demolition allowed the FTT took a more nuanced view. It nevertheless ruled a run-down property retained its character as a dwelling.

HMRC have announced that from 2 October they will be removing the ten-minute average wait time standard on their Agent Dedicated phone line.