Time for a new perspective

Anthony Hurley provides an overview of planning and implementing a successful Covid-19 exit strategy

Many of the changes that were expected to be seen over decades instead happened in weeks, as a result of Covid-19. Whilst there is no definitive end in sight to the pandemic, the vaccination roll-out will start to allow the current measures to be relaxed. The Prime Minister’s current plan – subject to meeting four tests at each stage – is that current restrictions may be lifted before the end of June, potentially before many other developed economies. However, this will not result in a return to pre Covid-19 working practices. The world has changed and we have changed with it.

1 April 2021

About the author

Anthony Hurley

Anthony is a leading business transformation consultant whose career began in tax, working with EY for over 17 years, before developing into an operational role which included managing and developing large offshore teams. Today, his company works with SMEs looking to identify changes to their operating models that will result in increased profitability and efficiency gains that have synergy with the organisation’s strategic ambitions.

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

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

Time for a new perspective

Anthony Hurley

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

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Anthony Hurley

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