November 2017
HMRC Talking Points sessions – November and December 2017
HMRC’s regular Talking Points meetings provide ongoing information, guidance and tips, helping you to understand tax issues. Please find further details of future scheduled online meetings below: Business Expenses for the Self-Employed: This meeting is to provide guidance on what is and isn’t classed as an allowable business expense and will include motoring and premises costs. Wednesday 29 November – midday to
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HMRC issue further guidance on the SA302 tax calculation
On 5 September HMRC changed the way they deal with requests, from agents, for copies of the Self Assessment Tax Calculation (sometimes referred to as the SA302). HMRC will no longer send a paper copy of the calculation to the agent if the SA return has been filed online. There are exceptions, for example where it is either not possible
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IAB’s CEO to help design the Accounting T qualification
IAB Chief Executive Malcolm Trotter is one of a number of industry experts who is helping design the new Accounting T level qualification. The government recently announced that digital, construction and education and childcare will be the first three to be developed, with finance and accounting and legal T levels to be introduced in 2021. Education secretary Justine Greening said
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Taxpayers banned from using credit cards to pay personal tax bills
From 13 January 2018, HMRC will no longer be accepting payment of tax bills by personal credit card. Currently, HMRC is only allowed to accept credit card payments on the basis that there is no loss of public money, but new legislation means that HMRC will no longer be able to accept them. This will affect payments of income tax,
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New trading allowance ‘unfair on sole traders’
A discrepancy in the new £1,000 allowance for trading income puts existing sole traders at a disadvantage compared with the employed and those trading in partnership, The Association of Taxation Technicians (ATT) is claiming. From 6 April 2017, a new £1,000 tax free allowance became available for individuals with trading income. Under this trading allowance, individuals receiving less than £1,000
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VAT blow to UK bridge clubs
European judges have ruled that duplicate (tournament) bridge is not a sport, a decision that scuppered British clubs’ hopes of a VAT tax break. To be classified as a sport under EU tax law, the European Court of Justice said, an activity must have a significant physical element. Bridge, while played competitively at national and international level, is a card
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Smartphone use falls among young for first time
The use of smartphones may have peaked as research suggests that young people have started using them less. Owners of mobiles and tablets spend an average of 2.4 hours a day staring at their devices, with those aged 16-24 opening an app every 15 minutes. Despite this, market research by Kantar TNS found that the amount of time young people
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Your top five career ‘regrets’
New data from CV-Library has found that 72% of professional in the finance industry would start an entire new career if they had the chance, with 51% admitting that they’ve made a career move in the past that they’ve regretted. The survey, of 1,200 accounting workers in the UK, found the following top five career ‘regrets’: Moving to a company
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Crackdown on bank transfer scammers
The 100 people and companies tricked each day into sending money to fraudsters could find it easier to claim compensation under new proposals. The Payments System Regulator set out reforms relating to bank transfer scams, while new data for the first time revealed the scale of what bankers say is a growing menace. The average individual victim loses £3,027 and
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