TaxCalc Blog

The spreadsheet is dead, long live the spreadsheet

In 2015, then Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, announced the biggest change to the UK tax system since the introduction of Self Assessment, as he declared “the death of the annual tax return” accompanied by “a revolutionary simplification of tax”. Neither has yet to be delivered but, if you look past the headlines and rhetoric, HMRC’s Making Tax Digital programme is less about making tax digital and more about making bookkeeping digital.

New penalty regime: points mean prizes (for HMRC)

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has confirmed that their new points-based penalty regime will come into effect from 1 January 2023 and will apply to both Making Tax Digital (MTD) for VAT as well as MTD for Income Tax Self Assessment (ITSA). Their stated aim is to make penalties simple, fair and effective but, as the arguably illustrious ageing rocker, Meat Loaf, might say, “Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad”.

Autumn Budget and Spending Review 2021

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, presents his Autumn Budget and Spending Review to Parliament today, Wednesday 27 October 2021 and the tax experts at TaxCalc are on hand to analyse and disseminate the finer details of any announcements. Keep checking back here for live updates and commentary. 

MTD legislation day: The BIG reveal

The full MTD regulations have been made public for the first time today. Until now, we have only had an early draft of the regulations to work with and it is fair to say that there were some glaring holes in that draft document – particularly in relation to partnerships, basis periods and when taxpayers could enter or leave the MTD regime. 

We have been waiting a long time for those draft regulations to be updated and our tax experts are now pouring over the contents to disseminate the fine detail. 

What do accountants really think about advisory?

Last month, we surveyed over 300 firms across the UK, asking how practitioners felt about the value of compliance and how keenly they were adopting ‘advisory’ services. 

The aim was to understand how well the ‘advisory is the future’ message that’s been broadcast to firms for the past twenty years or so has resonated – that the traditional model of selling compliance services (those which focus on historical data and the reporting regulations that surround them) should be de-emphasised as a source of revenue in favour of proactive ‘advisory’ services. 

Have your say on basis period reform

HMRC has opened a consultation on basis period reform which asks for views on how best to implement a proposal to simplify the rules under which profits of an unincorporated trading business are allocated to tax years using basis periods.

What you need to know about applying for the fifth SEISS grant.

The fifth Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) grant can be claimed by individual taxpayers who are either self-employed or who are a member of a partnership.

Claims must be made by the taxpayer and not by an agent on their behalf; although they can seek assistance from an agent in completing their claim.

Have you paid your COVID19 deferred VAT?

One of the COVID19 relief schemes in 2020 was the 'VAT Payments Deferral Scheme'. This automatically deferred any VAT liabilities from VAT quarters falling due between 20 March 2020 and 30 June 2020. Any amounts due between these dates were given a deferral until 31 March 2021.

If you haven’t yet paid these outstanding liabilities, don't worry – all is not lost!

With these three options, you may still be able to avoid the 5% penalty or interest.