The latest Tax News, VAT News, HMRC News and Fee Protection Insurance News from the experts at Vantage Fee Protect.
Latest News Articles
Private School VAT FAQ
What has Changed? From 1 January 2025, all supplies of education, vocational training, and board & lodge made by a private school will be subject to VAT at the standard rate (20%). The draft legislation defines a private school as a school/institute that provides full-time education for pupils of compulsory school age (and those up…
UPDATE: Fuel Rates for Company Car Drivers
The reimbursement rates for employees using company cars for business travel have been updated as of 1 September 2024. These Advisory Fuel Rates (AFRs), set by HMRC, are revised every quarter to reflect changes in fuel prices. The AFRs specify the maximum amounts that can be reimbursed to employees for business mileage in a company…
Granting Shares Options to non-employees/Consultants
By nature of their contract for services, consultants are not eligible for any of the approved tax advantaged share option schemes in the same way that employees of a company offering incentives are. Approved share option schemes include: Enterprise Management Incentive Options (EMI scheme) Company Share Option Plan (CSOP) Share Incentive Plan (SIP) Save As…
Tax Planning Around VAT on Private School Fees
With the election date fast approaching and opinion polls predicting a change of government, clients may now be worried about one of Labour’s flagship policies, VAT on independent schools, and looking for planning opportunities to mitigate any increase in costs this causes. Labour's manifesto lacks specific implementation details, and the election campaign hasn't provided much…
Non-Dom left out FA24
After announcing an early election, the government rushed to have the Finance Bill with the 2024 Spring Budget measures passed into law. However, one of the most notable of the reforms on the Non-Domiciled Status is missing. The 2024 Spring Budget included an announcement that the rules for “non-domiciled” individuals would be completely overhauled in…
CIS changes
HMRC announced they were making some minor changes to the CIS scheme from 6 April 2024, in that VAT failures are now counted when looking at whether a firm qualifies for gross payment status. In line with other taxes, minor failures will not count towards gross payment disqualification. “Minor failures” are: 3 late submissions of…
Navigating Tax Changes: High-Income Child Benefit Charge and Other Updates
THE HIGH-INCOME CHILD BENEFIT CHARGE In an effort to reduce unfairness, the thresholds for the high-income child benefit charge (HICBC) will be increased from 2024/25. You may have to pay the HICBC if you are considered to have ‘high income’ and child benefit is being paid in relation to a child that lives with you,…
CIOT Responds to HMRC Regarding the Current Problems with R&D Tax Relief
In the summer of 2023, HMRC and the Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT) exchanged lengthy correspondence about the approach being taken by HMRC relating to R&D tax relief claim compliance checks. The CIOT expressed concern about a number of tactics being employed; HMRC’s response was to largely defend the measures being undertaken. Several months have…
The VAT threshold: Should it be changed, and do I need to register for VAT?
The current UK VAT threshold is £85,000. This threshold is due to stay in place until at least April 2016, meaning that by that time the VAT threshold will not have changed for at least 9 years. On our advice line, we receive queries daily from businesses that want to remain below the VAT threshold,…
The Pension Savings Tax Charge… could result in a Tax Saving?
Pension Savings Tax Charge Each tax year, a UK resident individual who is a member of a registered pension scheme is entitled to an annual allowance in respect of pension contributions. For the 2023/24 tax year, the standard annual allowance is £60,000. The annual allowance effectively sets a limit on total contributions that can attract…
Tax relief on travel costs ‘’making a claim in your personal tax return and a reminder these rules also affect employees working through intermediaries’’
As we approach the deadline for submitting tax returns again, many accountants will be provided with receipts for train journeys and mileage logs from clients wishing to make a claim and obtain a tax refund from their tax paid in their employment role. The general rules The general rule for employees claiming tax relief for…
Furnished Holiday Let capital allowance trap!
Furnished Holiday Lets (FHLs) are a type of property income that attracts special tax treatment, giving similar tax breaks to a trading activity rather than an investment activity. A broad overview of the rules can be found in HMRC’s Helpsheet 253. The ability to claim capital allowances within an FHL is one of the key…
Transferring Ownership of Property
We are frequently asked to advise on the tax implications of transferring property between individuals and of incorporating a property business. Whilst the specific details of each transaction will always need to be considered, the following provides an outline of the basic tax treatment. Transfers Between Individuals Capital Gains Tax A transfer of ownership is…
What is the tax treatment of an overage clause and its subsequent gift?
Question: We have two clients who are sisters that jointly own a parcel of land in England that they inherited from their parents in the late 1970s. The sisters are both UK resident and domiciled individuals and are over State Retirement age. Historically, the land was used for agricultural purposes, but in more recent years,…
Article of Transitional Profit 2023-24
Question: I am looking at my client's projected tax position for the year ending April 2024. This is the year in which the change in basis periods takes effect, and I would like to know about the treatment of the profits of the ‘transitional period’ and wonder if you could advise me? Answer: The transitional…
Are you accessing all of your client’s data correctly through HMRC’s online services?
Taxpayers can now grant authority for agents to access their pay and tax records directly via the Agent Services Account. Agent Services Account The Income Record Viewer is accessed via an Agent Services Account. If an account has not already been set up, it will need to be created before authorisation can be obtained. The…
The UBER effect
Over the last few years, many words have been written in regard to UBER’s challenges with HMRC, most famously the decision in 2022 of the High Courts that UBER drivers are to be given employment rights. The knock-on effect of this decision was that, for VAT purposes, UBER were not an agent in a supply…
Unprecedented Challenges: Understanding HMRC’s Scrutiny of R&D Tax Credit Claims and the Role of SIC Codes
As Tax Fee Protection Providers, our claims department have seen the volume of R&D tax credit investigations reach previously unprecedented levels. Most of our accountancy clients are perplexed about why these claims have been challenged by HMRC whereas in previous years claims from even the most unlikely candidate companies for R&D have been processed without…
Q: I want to buy a motorhome or campervan; what are the tax implications?
Motor Homes HMRC has always considered these vehicles to be cars for tax purposes because they are mechanically propelled road vehicles, and none of the exceptions in EIM23100 apply to prevent them from being cars. This means that, unless manufacturers start making low-emission motor homes, anyone provided with a motor home as a company car…
The pitfalls of Share Dealing – Are You Trading for loss relief?
The recent case of N Henderson v HMRC [2023] TC8755 shows that it is not always easy to distinguish whether dealing in shares is an investment activity or enough to warrant being treated as a trade for tax purposes. This distinction is crucial when using sideways loss relief against other income. Background and Transaction History…
Do you supply serviced, holiday or leisure accommodation? You may have paid too much VAT!
A recent First Tier tribunal decision in the case of Sonder Europe Ltd v HMRC [2023] TC08853 has gone against HMRC’s existing policy that “if you hire, lease or rent accommodation under an agreement whereby you take responsibility for the upkeep of the property and you are required to undertake any maintenance to the fabric…
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