Blog

1 December 2020 - Due date for Corporation Tax payable for the year ended 28 February 2020. 19 December 2020 - PAYE and NIC deductions due for month ended 5 December 2020. (If you pay your tax electronically the due date is 22 December 2020) 19 December 2020 - Filing deadline for the CIS300 monthly return for the month ended 5 December 2020. 19 December 2020 - CIS tax deducted for the month ended 5 December 2020 is payable by today. 30 December 2020 - Deadline for filing 2019-20 self-assessment tax returns online to include a claim for...

HMRC’s guidance on making claims through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme was updated on 19 November 2020. The updated guidance now includes various examples of what is meant by a ‘reasonable excuse’ for employers that submit furlough claims after the stated deadline. Claims for the periods from 1 July 2020 to 31 October 2020 must be submitted no later than 30 November 2020. From 1 November 2020, claims must be submitted by 11.59pm 14 calendar days after the end of the previous calendar month. If a claim deadline falls on the weekend or a...

Fraudsters are continuing to target taxpayers with scam emails in advance of the 31 January deadline for submission of Self-Assessment returns. In fact, over the last year, HMRC received more than 846,000 reports about suspicious HMRC contact. A number of these scams purport to tell taxpayers they are due a tax rebate or tax refund from HMRC and ask for bank or credit card details in order to send the refund. The fraudsters use various means to try and scam people including making contact by phone calls, texts or emails. In fact, fraudsters...

The Northern Ireland Trader Support Service was launched on 28 September 2020 to support businesses moving goods under the Northern Ireland Protocol from 1 January 2021 after the Brexit transition period comes to an end. There will be changes in moving goods between Great Britain and Northern Ireland whether or not a Free Trade Deal is reached. These changes will affect those moving goods between Great Britain and Northern Ireland or bringing goods into Northern Ireland from outside the UK. Under the Northern Ireland Protocol, all Northern...

HMRC has issued a new consultation to examine how the principles established for Making Tax Digital (MTD) could be implemented for those entities within the charge to Corporation Tax. The consultation is open for comment until 5 March 2021. The regime MTD started in April 2019 for VAT purposes only. MTD for Income Tax is expected to be introduced from 6 April 2023. The consultation provides some additional information on the planned rollout of MTD for Corporation Tax. Following the end of the consultation, the government will continue to...

The Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) is a set of special rules for tax and National Insurance for those working in the construction industry. It was announced at Spring Budget 2020 that a consultation on measures to tackle abuse of the CIS would be launched. Following the consultation and further meetings with those working in the sector four new changes to prevent CIS abuse are set to come into effect from 6 April 2021. CIS set-off amendment power. The measure provides a power to allow HMRC to amend the CIS deduction amounts claimed by...

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) commonly known as the furlough scheme was due to come to an end on 31 October 2020 but has now been extended until 31 March 2021. Effective from 1 November 2020, employees will receive up to 80% of their salary for hours not worked. There will be a review date of the CJRS in January 2021, which may see employers taking on an increased financial contribution if the economic and health outlook of the country show signs of improvement. It is important that employers are aware of the rules for deciding...

The Chancellor, Rishi Sunak delivered the government's spending plans for the coming year to Parliament on 25 November 2020. The Spending Review usually covers 3 to 4 years but given the many unknowns as a result of the pandemic the review will only cover the period from April 2021 to April 2022. The Chancellor said his immediate priority was to protect people’s lives and livelihoods as the country continues to battle the outbreak - allocating £55 billion to tackle the virus next year. Plans were also announced for increased infrastructure...

Many of us are building a pension fund, a portfolio of shares or deposits with our bank or building society. Most of these investment options reward us for our participation by offering income (usually in the form of interest or dividends) or by demonstrating capital growth (share prices increasing). Accordingly, there are three components to our investments: the capital sum we invest, any growth in the value of the capital sum invested or rewards (interest or dividends) paid by banks or companies in which we hold shares. What we do with...

The Immigration and Social Security Co-ordination (EU Withdrawal) Act 2020 received Royal Assent on 11 November 2020. This is the legislation which will end the free movement of persons under retained EU law in the UK at 11pm on 31 December 2020. It will also repeal other retained EU law relating to immigration. A new points-based immigration system will apply to EU (including EEA and Swiss) citizens arriving in the UK from 1 January 2021 onwards and these workers will need to apply for a work visa in advance. They will be awarded points for a...