HMRC has issued guidance to self-employed taxpayers about how to apply for the fifth SEISS grant, the portal for which is due to open later this month, however this guidance is both confusing and in some cases simply wrong! Even as an accountant I have struggled to understand what it means, but I’ll do my best to…
Category: Taxation
The EU’s new VAT rules for e-commerce from 1 July 2021
The new European Union (EU) VAT system for business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce sales comes into force on 1 July 2021. This package of changes comprises: a one stop shop for accounting for VAT on B2C services; an import one stop shop (IOSS) to pay import VAT on low value imports of less than €150 from outside…
The Import One Stop Shop (IOSS) scheme isn’t that simple
The Import One Stop Shop (IOSS) aims to simplify cross-border VAT for consumers. The scheme goes live on 1 July 2021, but already some GB based taxpayers are finding some unexpected complications. The import one stop shop is an EU wide scheme the aim of which is to simplify the movement of goods not exceeding…
Who to believe?
Next Wednesday the Chancellor will deliver his first proper Budget since the start of the pandemic nearly a year ago; since then, we have had what has amounted to a number of discriminatory and uncoordinated announcements aimed to protect some jobs and some businesses. You might think that, with all that time, the Treasury would…
You can now defer your VAT payment until January 2022
All VAT registered businesses had their VAT payments deferred automatically for amounts due to be paid in the period from 20 March to 30 June 2020. No interest or penalties have been charged on that outstanding VAT debt, and businesses have been free to pay the amount due at any time. Now pay up There…
What should I do if my application to defer my 31 January tax due is rejected?
The government realised some time ago that a large number of taxpayers would need to defer tax due this January, so HMRC created an instalment mechanism to allow individual taxpayers to apply for time to pay the tax debts now falling due. However, some taxpayers and advisers using the online service to defer tax due on 31…
Activation code requirement temporarily suspended for online SA filing
On 1 December 2020 HMRC temporarily suspended the requirement for an activation code to be sent in the post before taxpayers can access the self assessment online filing service. The normal process for taxpayers who want to sign up to file a self assessment (SA) tax return online involves HMRC sending an activation code through…
MTD filing to be extended to all VAT-registered traders from April 2022
On 21 July the Treasury set out a first draft of the government’s ten-year plan to modernise the tax administration system. This includes restarting the making tax digital (MTD) programme which had ground to a halt in the face of Brexit and the coronavirus pandemic. MTD filing is to be extended to all VAT-registered traders from April 2022…
Tax agents unable to make Self-Employed Income Support Scheme claims on behalf of clients
Just when they hoped the government was coming to their rescue, the millions of self-employed workers in the UK have been delivered a blow by HMRC who have announced that their tax agents are barred from claiming the self-employed income support scheme (SEISS) grant on their behalf. The SEISS will be open for applications from…
How to negotiate a time to pay agreement with HMRC
HMRC has published details of the specific helpline to contact to negotiate a time to pay agreement if you are likely to have difficulty paying tax because of Coronavirus, but it’s not known whether HMRC will change its usual approach to time to pay, for taxpayers who are having difficulty. In the meantime businesses may find useful…
