HM Treasury has now published its consultation document on the new 36 per cent rate of inheritance tax where at least one-tenth of an estate is left to charity.
The consultation closes on 31 August. The legislation is not likely to come into effect until the 2012-13 tax year.
The consultation paper is available here.
The Scottish Government yesterday announced proposals to limit increases in the taxation of North Sea oil and gas.
The proposal is in response to the recent changes to the taxation of North Sea oil and gas announced by UK Chancellor George Osborne in his recent Budget. George Osborne raised the “supplementary tax” on North Sea oil production from 20% to 32%. This is expected to raise £2bn and is to be used to fund a cut in fuel duty.
The trade body Oil and Gas UK said it could cost the industry £50bn over 10 years.
Scotland’s First Minister, Alex Salmond said companies should be allowed a minimum rate of return, before the tax is levied. Iain Gray, leader of the Labour group of MSPs, endorsed the proposed reforms.
The Telegraph reported yesterday that Cornwall Council is considering charging tourists £1 for every night they stay in the English county.
The Council is hoping that the tax will help to pay for infrastructure costs. Cornwall Council estimates that a “tourist tax” would raise an extra £25million. Cornwall’s population swells from about 500,000 to more than five million during the summer.
The Law Society has arranged for a temporary relaxation of the 14 day limit on the period specified in the “classic” Letter of Obligation. The time limit will be raised to 21 days for all transactions which settle during the period from Friday 24 June to Friday 1 July inclusive.
The relaxation is necessary as a result of changes being made to HMRC’s computer system which mean that the system will not accept SDLT returns submitted online or by paper from Saturday 25 June (at 00:01) until Monday 4 July (at 00:01).
The Law Society’s press release is available here
There is an error on page 187. The 5% Stamp Duty Land Tax rate rate does not apply to non-residential property. CCH has confirmed that they have amended the on-line version and that the next edition of this publication will also include this correction.
HMRC launched 9,368 investigations into Inheritance Tax valuations over the last year and is actively targeting estates and beneficiaries say tax advisers UHY Hacker Young.
In instances where additional tax was payable, this averaged £24,600 per case. Based on HMRC figures, approximately £70 million of additional tax was raised as the result of HMRC challenging the valuations of properties included in the estate of a deceased person in 2010.
HMRC has previously advised estate beneficiaries to obtain several property valuations and strongly recommends the engagement of a professional valuer or chartered surveyor.
HM Treasury is looking to appoint a permanent Chair and Tax Director for Office of Tax Simplification. Both positions are on a voluntary basis with expenses paid. However an honorarium of £12,000 per annum will be paid to the Tax Director in recognition of their contribution to Government policy making.
HM Treasury’s consultation paper on the proposed 10 per cent inheritance tax charity relief is to be published on 9 June.
The UK Chancellor’s Budget proposal, which will come into effect in April 2012, will reduce the rate of inheritance tax from 40 per cent to 36 per cent, if at least 10 per cent of a person’s estate is given to charity.
In his recent Budget, the UK Chancellor announced his decision to abolish 43 tax reliefs. This followed the independent Office of Tax Simplification’s (OTS) March 2011 report reviewing the number and complexity of tax reliefs in the UK tax system. The original report identified 1,042 reliefs.
HM Treasury are now seeking additional evidence on the impacts of removing 36 of these reliefs, and comments on the transitional arrangements that might help to minimise these impacts. The consultation can be found on the HM Treasury website and closes on 31 August 2011.
89 inheritance tax reliefs were identified in the interim report. The consultation recommends that a full review of inheritance tax is undertaken rather than a separate review of the reliefs identified.
Major changes are being made to the computer system used by HMRC to process SDLT returns. As a result, the system will be unavailable from 00:01 on Saturday 25 June until 00:01 on Monday 4 July. It will not be possible to file returns during this period. HMRC are expected to publish further information on this matter in the next few days.
In the meantime they have issued the following documents detailing their plans:
