A reminder that businesses, regardless of turnover, who registered for VAT on or after 1 April 2010 must submit their returns online and pay any VAT due electronically.
This will apply to all VAT- registered businesses by April 2012.
More information can be found here.
Excellent report by the House of Commons Treasury Select Committee on HMRC’s standards of service.
The findings will not be a surprise to those who have had to deal with HMRC over the last few years. Just trying to contact HMRC, or to get someone from HMRC to respond to correspondence, is a challenge in itself.
A statement form the Select Committee and its report can be found here.
The Herald reports today that various English airport authorities are not happy that Air Passenger Duty is likely to be devolved to the Scottish Parliament.
This reaction is not unexpected. I suspect that each time a tax is devolved similar arguments will be made. This debate is not unique to the UK. The on-going battle of wills between Ireland and France and Germany over Ireland’s low corporation tax rate shows its European dimension.
The Herald also reports that one option being considered is to simply devolve the right to collect this tax but not vary it. I suspect that is not a serious proposal as only devolving the right to collect a tax does not make the Scottish Parliament more fiscally accountable nor provide it with a new economic lever. If this is a serious proposal then it shows how hard it is going to be devolve any new tax or fiscal power to the Scottish Parliament. Air Passenger Duty is a minor tax and in theory is fairly easy to devolve. Even the Calman Commission recommended that it be devolved. Last week’s Crown Estate announcement provides further evidence of how reluctant HM Treasury are to give up any power at all.
The report from the Herald can be found here.
Fascinating article in The Sunday Times today.
The article claims that laying off public-sector staff cost at least £1bn last year.
Two examples:
In the last two years 37 HMRC officials have left with packages worth more than £200,000.
At the Land Registry, English and Welsh equivalent of the Registers of Scotland, more that 200 officials received packages worth over £100,000. 68 of these were worth over £200,000.
The £447,382 pay out for Bernadette Kenny, the HMRC official in charge of personal taxes when HMRC miscalculated the tax due by 6 million people, will I am sure receive a lot of publicity in the next few days.
Interesting report on HM Revenue & Customs by the National Audit Office.
HMRC has to reduce its running costs by £1.6 billion in the next four years. That is a real challenge when you consider that it also has to increase tax revenues, improve customer service and achieve reductions in welfare payments.
This is likely to mean cutting staff numbers by a further 10,000 and reducing its number of offices still further.
In its report the NAO said HMRC had reported savings of about £1.4bn since 2005.
The NAO report can be found here.
A report on this by the BBC can be found here.
HM Revenue & Customs has published fresh proposals to clamp down on dishonest tax agents.
The discussion document proposes compulsory access to the working papers of dishonest tax agents, even those in the possession of a third party, but only if sanctioned by the First Tier Tax Tribunal. Civil penalties will also be available if there has been an illegitimate loss of tax.
The discussion document can be found here.
The UK Government’s Office of Budget Responsibility’s first annual “Fiscal Sustainability Report” was published this week. The Report has warned that government debt will reach 100% of GDP by 2058 as a result of demographic changes within the population.
17% of the UK’s population is currently over 65, expected to rise to 26% by 2061. The effect is likely to be particularly acute in Scotland which has received lower numbers of immigrants than England making the country’s age profile even older; the care costs associated with an ageing population here are expected to rise by 74% by 2031.
Two comments sum up nicely the debate that is currently ongoing on this issue.
“David Kern, chief economist at the British Chambers of Commerce, said: “Only greater productivity and higher growth in the private sector can pay for public-sector services and public-sector pensions in the future.”
“Michelle Mitchell, Age UK charity director, said: “If we plan sensibly and carefully calibrate long-term spending and taxation decisions, there is no need for national debt to increase alongside life expectancy.”
The report can be found here.
An article from the Scotsman on this issue can be found here.
The latest SDLT Bulletin is now available from HMRC here.
It contains guidance on the following:
Interesting article on the debate surrounding the introduction of a specific tax relief for “games firms”.
The article refers to a report by Gartner Inc. The report stated that it is likely that the games market will grow 10.4% between 2010 and this year. Spending on video games should increase in coming years so that by 2015 worldwide spending will reach £69.9 billion.
Jim McGovern, Labour MP for Dundee West, is quoted as saying: “This report increases the pressure on the UK Government to start acting to support our computer games industry. In the last month Ireland has announced it will introduce tax breaks and Pennsylvania became the 17th US state to do the same.”
The present UK coalition Government in its July 2010 emergency Budget decided not to introduce a tax relief for the games industry that the previous UK Government had planned to introduce.
The article from the Courier can be found here.
A call for evidence has been issued by the Scottish Parliament’s new Scotland Bill Committee. The deadline is 9 September 2011.
The Committee which now has an SNP majority has also asked for comments on devolving control over Corporation Tax and the Crown Estate to the Scottish Parliament and the role of the Supreme Court.
Given the result of the Scottish General Election it will be interesting to see how the Unionist and Federal parties respond to the proposed amendments to the Scotland Bill.
One issue that needs to be looked at again is whether the income tax proposal is workable.
Also, given that the Scottish Parliament is going to gainhave increased fiscal powers under any political scenario we now need to start seriously at creating a Scottish Exchequer that combines the role of HM Treasury and HM Revenue & Customs.
The Scotland Bill Committee’s webpage and “call for evidence” can be found here.
