A focused Budget with a long tail

Bill Dodwell considers the measures announced in the March Budget and the range of consultations announced on Tax Day

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has certainly delivered his two Budgets in extraordinary circumstances. This no doubt explains why both the 2020 and 2021 Budgets were very focused, without the large number of individual measures that Gordon Brown and George Osborne would certainly have introduced. However, some of the longer tail was released three weeks later, on Tax Day.

The Budget measures fall into three categories: short-term help for those adversely affected by the pandemic and lockdowns; medium term boosts to the economy; and a longer term start to reduce the current deficit, through increasing taxes.

Short term help

The full list of short-term measures is:

1 April 2021

About the author

More by the author...

Bill Dodwell asks how many people have been unable to access the Self Employed Income Support Scheme

On 15 February, the Treasury Committee published its third report looking at the tax and economic effects of Coronavirus (see bit.ly/3bkqcAi). The paper urged the government to extend assistance to ‘those missing out, including limited company directors and freelancers’.

Limitations of the SEISS

2 March 2021

Bill Dodwell considers who is best placed to supply information to HMRC

In 1944, the Pay As You Earn system was introduced and about 12 million adults started to find their employer deducting tax from their salaries and wages. The system was introduced due to government and Inland Revenue concern that the old system of payment in arrears did not work well for the much larger working population now subject to income tax. There was a particular issue that the high wartime wages would be reduced after the war – and taxpayers might not have put money aside to pay their taxes.

An evolving system

5 February 2021

Bill Dodwell asks whether the UK should have a wealth tax, and if so how it should go about it

Two academics and a barrister (Dr Arun Advani, Emma Chamberlain and Dr Andy Summers) – together called the Wealth Tax Commission – have published a report on a possible wealth tax for the UK (see www.wealthtaxcommission.uk). Their work has been supported by a wide range of other, mainly academic, contributors. Their website contains a wide range of background papers, which are well worth reading.

What is a wealth tax?

A wealth tax is a tax levied by reference to an individual’s assets, net of any debt. Unlike a capital gains tax or a gift tax, it is not levied on an event (a disposal or a receipt) but is levied on a one-off or annual basis by reference to the value of an individual’s net assets on a defined day.

8 January 2021

Bill Dodwell considers the Office of Tax Simplification’s first report on its capital gains tax review

The Office of Tax Simplification published its first report on its capital gains tax review, ‘Simplifying by design’ on 11 November. The report arrived four months after the chancellor’s request to ‘identify opportunities relating to administrative and technical issues, as well as areas where the present rules can distort behaviour or do not meet their policy intent’. This report looks at policy design and principles and, in particular, at distortions in the system of taxing capital gains.

1 December 2020

Also in this edition

As members of the Board of CFE and council members of CIOT, Gary Ashford and Ian Hayes explain the role of CFE, and how members in the UK can benefit

Established over 60 years ago, CFE (Tax Advisers Europe) (see taxadviserseurope.org) is the pre-eminent association of professional tax bodies based in Europe, dealing with all aspects of taxation. CIOT and the Tax Faculty of ICAEW are the two UK members. Now that the UK has left the EU, it is particularly important to appreciate that CFE memberships span EU member states and non-EU countries, such as Russia and Switzerland.

1 April 2021

Karmjit Mader and Dominic Arnold consider the Embiricos case and ask what we can take away about domicile enquiries and the use of partial closure notices

Those tax practitioners who frequently deal with long running domicile enquiries with HMRC were no doubt awaiting with anticipation the decision of the Upper Tribunal (UT) in the case of Mr Epaminondas Embiricos. The wait is now over with the decision being published (see HMRC v Embiricos [2020] UKUT 370).

The Upper Tribunal disagreed with the earlier decision of the First-tier Tribunal (FTT) (see [2019] UKFTT 236(TC)) and allowed HMRC’s appeal. The decision not only has implications for those with domicile enquiries; it also clarifies the use of partial closure notices as a tool to accelerate ongoing HMRC enquiries.

The journey to the Upper Tribunal

1 April 2021

In the second part of her series on home loan schemes, Emma Chamberlain reviews the current arguments relating to the schemes, including the impact of the recent Shelford case

In my first article in the March issue of Tax Adviser, I considered how home loan arrangements were set up and HMRC’s historic attack on them. This article reviews current arguments and the recent Shelford case.

This article continues to consider the example of Andrew, a 70 year old with a property worth £1.5 million, who set up a home loan scheme to give away the value of his home but continue living there without a reservation of benefit problem and without losing main residence relief. See the March issue for full details of Andrew’s situation.

Current HMRC arguments

HMRC now considers that in relation to a loan repayable on the donor’s death, any home loan scheme fails to mitigate inheritance tax for four reasons:

1 April 2021

Keith Gordon looks at the Supreme Court’s decision in Uber and considers how it is relevant to tax advisers

The Uber case (Uber BV v Aslam [2021] UKSC 5) was not a tax case. It was a case about what is generally referred to as employment rights, although its scope might be more strictly explained using the rather more old-fashioned phrase, labour law. However, there are at least four reasons why the case should not be overlooked by tax advisers.

1 April 2021

Rebecca Sheldon considers why HMRC may object to the withdrawal of an appeal and the repercussions of this in tribunal

The case of Albert House and Vale Property v HMRC [2020] UKUT 373 (heard before the Upper Tribunal) highlighted the issue of whether an appellant was able to withdraw their appeal when HMRC wanted to prevent them from doing so. The appellants were two Guernsey companies in members’ voluntary liquidation, each with appeals against separate but related decisions of the First-Tier Tribunal.

1 April 2021

Neil Warren considers the introduction of two reporting systems in the EU from 1 July 2021 and also new VAT rules for importing low value shipments of goods

Many GB businesses exporting low value shipments of goods to the EU have found the procedures very tricky since the end of the transitional deal on 31 December 2020. Arrivals in the EU are now subject to VAT and import duty – the free movement of the single market no longer applies. But a new system is being introduced by the EU on 1 July 2021, which should make procedures easier for shipments with a value of €150 or less. And, on the same date, the principles of the EU’s Mini-One-Stop Shop (MOSS) are being extended to include more supplies than just broadcasting, telecommunication and electronic services. This will make VAT accounting easier for many UK businesses.

Supplying services

1 April 2021

Rachel McEleney and Natalie Backes review the extensions to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and the Self-employment Income Support Scheme

As widely expected, the chancellor announced in his Budget speech on 3 March 2021 that both the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) and the Self-employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) will be extended to 30 September 2021. This is welcome news to businesses affected by Covid-19 but, as always, the devil is in the detail. We have outlined in this article the key points on the extension of these schemes.

1 April 2021

A focused Budget with a long tail

Bill Dodwell

A focused Budget with a long tail

Getting ready for the deadline

Get ready for major changes

To close or not to close?

Further extensions to support schemes

Search form

Search form

Search form

A focused Budget with a long tail

Log in to read this exclusive content

Bill Dodwell

A focused Budget with a long tail

Getting ready for the deadline

Get ready for major changes

To close or not to close?

Further extensions to support schemes