fpdteam, Author at Bennetts Accountancy

UKs audit regime to be revamped

9th June 2022 by fpdteam

The government has announced plans to revamp the UK’s corporate reporting and audit regime.

The main changes were summarised as follows in a joint press release published by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, and the Minister for Corporate Responsibility.

government will tackle dominance of ‘Big Four’ audit firms and create a new regulator to reduce the risk of sudden big company collapses, safeguard jobs and reinforce the UK’s reputation as a world-leading destination for investment
reform is already underway, with the Business Secretary acting today to enable the regulator to ban failing auditors from reviewing large companies’ accounts
government commits to review corporate reporting burdens on businesses to maximise the benefits of Brexit and reduce burdens

The reforms are intended to improve the audit regime and corporate transparency will help prevent sudden large-scale collapses like Carillion and BHS, which affected countless small businesses and led to job losses.

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) will be replaced by a new, stronger regulator – the Audit, Reporting and Governance Authority (ARGA). This is expected to start from April 2023. Large private companies will also come under the scope of the regulator for the first time.

Source:Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy| 06-06-2022

Director banned for Bounce Back Loan abuse

9th June 2022 by fpdteam

The Bounce Back Loans scheme was launched in May 2020 to provide financial support to businesses across the UK that were losing revenue and cashflow as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The scheme allowed qualifying small businesses to borrow between £2,000 and £50,000 with no fees or interest to pay for the first 12 months. In most cases business receive the cash within 24 hours of approval. The scheme closed to new applications and top-up applications on 31 March 2021.

A director of a small consultancy business applied for a £30,000 Bounce Back Loan on behalf of his company in May 2020, despite the company accounts showing annual turnover of £50,000. The maximum the company was eligible to claim under the scheme was just under £13,000. Part of the loan was spent on personal expenditure in clear breach of the rules.

The business was placed in voluntary liquidation in March 2021 before the liquidator passed on concerns regarding the director’s conduct to the Insolvency Service for further investigation.

The director admitted applying for a larger Bounce Back Loan than the company was entitled to and using some of the money for personal expenditure. This has resulted in the director being banned from acting as a director for 8 years.

The Chief Investigator at The Insolvency Service said:

‘We will not hesitate to take action against directors who have abused Covid-19 financial support, and ultimately the taxpayer.’

Source:Other| 06-06-2022

Customs declaration service update

9th June 2022 by fpdteam

The Customs Declaration Service (CDS) is a new custom's IT platform that has been designed to modernise the process for completing customs declarations for businesses that import or export goods from the UK. A phased launch of the service started in August 2018. The CDS is used for making import and export declarations when moving goods into and out of the UK.

When the CDS is fully operational, the old Customs Handling of Import and Export Freight (CHIEF) service will be closed. The CHIEF system is over 25 years old and has struggled to cope with complex reporting requirements that could not easily or cost-effectively be accommodated within the existing service.

HMRC has confirmed that ahead of the 31 March 2023 complete closure, services on CHIEF will be withdrawn in two stages:

30 September 2022: import declarations close on CHIEF
31 March 2023: export declarations close on CHIEF / National Exports System (NES)

The decision to introduce the CDS was system driven to provide a more secure and stable platform and predated Britain’s vote to leave the EU. Importers and exporters should by now be well aware of the CDS system, and they or their agent should be starting to prepare for the further rollout and eventual replacement of the CHIEF system. As the deadline approaches, HMRC is urging businesses to move to the CDS as soon as possible.

Source:HM Revenue & Customs| 06-06-2022

Claiming for mobile phones

9th June 2022 by fpdteam

When an employer incurs costs for the provision of mobile phones to employees it is important to understand the correct tax treatment of these expenses. This includes costs for phones provided to employees and reimbursement of employee’s own phone costs.

As a general rule, the provision of one mobile phone to a director or employee for private use is exempt from tax and NIC reporting requirements. The exemption covers the phone itself, any line rental and the cost of private calls paid for by the employer on that phone. The phone contract must be between the employer and the supplier

If the telephone expenses are not exempt, then they must be reported to HMRC, and employers may have to deduct and pay tax and National Insurance.

Various mobile phone expenses are covered by exemptions. For example, if an employee arranges the phone but the employer pays the supplier then you must:

report the cost on form P11D
pay Class 1 National Insurance through payroll

HMRC also make it clear that there remain devices that have telephone functionality which do not qualify as mobile phones. The tax exemption applies to devices primarily designed for voice communication. For example, the rules do not apply to tablets, PDAs and other similar devices.

Source:HM Revenue & Customs| 06-06-2022

Stamp duty refunds scam

9th June 2022 by fpdteam

Over the past few years, there have been some interesting opportunities for making claims for Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) refund claims. It should be noted that to be successful, these claims must meet quite specific criteria. For example, there may be scope for landlords and property investors to recover the 3% SDLT surcharge on the basis that a residential property was uninhabitable at the time of purchase. This could be because the home had no kitchen, bathroom, heating or was missing a roof. There is also the possibility of claiming Multiple Dwellings Relief (MDR) where multiple residential properties were bought as part of a linked transaction.

HMRC has published a press release warning homeowners about cold calls from rogue tax repayment agents advising them to make speculative SDLT refund claims. HMRC is likely to raise enquiries on these claims. If this is after the agent has taken their fee, the homeowner may be liable to pick up the difference. Incorrect refund claims must be repaid with interest, and potentially facing penalties.

HMRC has nine months to enquire into a claim and would look to recover the full tax, with interest, and penalties charged where appropriate from those found to be incorrect.

We would strongly recommend that anyone interested in receiving further information about making a claim or who are contacted ‘out of the blue’ about a Stamp Duty refund claim should seek our advice. Interestingly, HMRC give the same advice in their press release suggesting ‘anyone approached about a Stamp Duty refund claim should check with their original conveyancer, take independent professional advice and check HMRC’s guidance by searching ‘Stamp Duty Land Tax’ on GOV.UK.

Source:HM Revenue & Customs| 06-06-2022

Till fraud targeted by HMRC

9th June 2022 by fpdteam

In the Autumn Budget 2018, the government announced that they would launch a call for evidence to learn more about the nature and scale of till fraud. This specifically looked at businesses that deliberately undertake electronic sales suppression (ESS). ESS occurs when a business deliberately manipulates its electronic sales records in order to hide or reduce the value of individual transactions.

This type of fraud is hard to spot as it aims to reduce the recorded turnover of the business and the corresponding tax liabilities, while providing what appears to be a credible and compliant audit trail.

At Spring Budget 2021, the government announced that new powers would be introduced to tackle ESS. These new powers were included in the Finance Act (2022) introduced in February this year.

HMRC officers have now started to target businesses across the country that are suspected of being involved in making, supplying or promoting ESS systems. These businesses now face fines of up to £50,000 and criminal investigations. HMRC is also actively targeting users of these systems who will also face having to pay back tax evaded, financial penalties and possible criminal convictions.

On 18 May 2022, 30 businesses were visited, including shops, takeaways and restaurants, across nine counties and two men and a woman were arrested in Nottinghamshire as part of a criminal investigation into the alleged supply of ESS software.

Source:HM Revenue & Customs| 06-06-2022

Accounting periods for Corporation Tax

1st June 2022 by fpdteam

Companies often have to contend with having two different company accounting periods. This is because there are different rules for Companies House filings and for HMRC to whom any Corporation Tax due is paid.

The accounting periods can be the same but can also differ and a change may be needed to ‘sync’ the accounting periods. As a general rule, the Companies House rules are more flexible and under certain circumstances it is possible to make a change to the year end. The Companies House accounting period can sometimes run for more or less than 12 months.

A tax accounting period for Corporation Tax purpose cannot be longer than 12 months. This can create the unusual scenario whereby a company will be required to file two returns with HMRC if an accounting year is longer than twelve months.

If your accounts cover less than 12 months, then your accounting period will normally end on the same day and will also be shorter than 12 months. This can happen if the company stops trading or shortens its company’s year-end date (also known as its accounting reference date).

Source:HM Revenue & Customs| 30-05-2022

Business Asset Disposal Relief – deadlines and claims

1st June 2022 by fpdteam

Business Asset Disposal Relief (BADR) applies to the sale of a business, shares in a trading company or an individual’s interest in a trading partnership. Where this relief is available CGT of 10% is payable in place of the standard rate. There are a number of qualifying conditions that must be met in order to qualify for the relief.

BADR used to be known as Entrepreneurs’ Relief before 6 April 2020. The name change did not affect the operation of the relief.

You can currently claim a total of £1 million in BADR over your lifetime. The £1m lifetime limit means you can qualify for the relief more than once. The lifetime limit may be higher if you sold assets before 11 March 2020.

Claims for BADR are made through your Self-Assessment tax return or by filling in Section A of the Business Asset Disposal Relief help sheet.

The deadline for claiming relief is as follows:

Tax year when you sold or closed your business	Deadline to claim BADR
2021-22	31 January 2024
2020-21	31 January 2023
2019-20	31 January 2022

Source:HM Revenue & Customs| 30-05-2022

Last year to claim super-deduction

1st June 2022 by fpdteam

A reminder that the super-deduction, offering 130% first-year tax relief, is available to companies until March 2023. The super-deduction is designed to help companies finance expansion in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and to drive growth.

The super-deduction tax break was introduced on 1 April 2021 and allows businesses to deduct 130% of the cost of any qualifying purchase of most new plant and equipment that would ordinarily qualify for 18% main rate writing down allowances. This means that for every £1 incorporated businesses invest they can reduce their tax bill by up to 25p. The temporary tax relief applies on qualifying capital asset investments until 31 March 2023.

In addition, an enhanced first year allowance of 50% on qualifying special rate assets also applies expenditure within the same period. This includes most new plant and machinery investments that would ordinarily qualify for 6% special rate writing down allowances.

The super-deduction is only for companies, which means that self-employed traders are unable to benefit. However, they could benefit from the temporary increase in the Annual Investment Allowance (AIA) cap to £1 million. The AIA allows for a 100% tax deduction on qualifying expenditure on plant and machinery. The temporary limit of £1 million will also remain in place until 31 March 2023 before reverting to the usual £200,000 limit.

Source:HM Revenue & Customs| 30-05-2022

Arranging to pay tax bill by instalments

1st June 2022 by fpdteam

Businesses and self-employed people in financial distress, and with outstanding tax liabilities, may be eligible to receive support with their tax affairs by applying to HMRC’s Time To Pay service.

These arrangements are agreed on a case-by-case basis and are tailored to individual circumstances and liabilities. Agreements reached with HMRC allow businesses and individuals to pay off their debt by instalments over a period of time.

HMRC will usually offer taxpayers the option of extra time to pay if they think they genuinely cannot pay in full but will be able to pay in the future. If HMRC do not think that more time will help, then they can require immediate payment and start enforcement action if payment is not forthcoming.

An online payment plan for Self-Assessment tax bills can be used to set up instalment arrangements for paying tax liabilities up to £30,000. Taxpayers that qualify for a Time to Pay arrangement using the self-serve Time to Pay facility online, can do so without speaking to an HMRC adviser.

Taxpayers that want to use the online option must also have filed their latest tax return, be within 60 days of the payment deadline and intend to pay their debt off within the next 12 months or less.

Taxpayers with Self-Assessment tax payments that do not meet the above requirements and businesses need to contact HMRC to request a Time To Pay arrangement.

Source:HM Revenue & Customs| 30-05-2022