The Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne has announced that he will give his annual Autumn Statement to Parliament on 3 December 2014.

The statement provides an update on the government’s plans for the economy based on the latest forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility. These forecasts will be published alongside the Autumn Statement on 3 December.

Full details of the announcements will be available following the Chancellor’s statement to Parliament.

This year the government is seeking your views on what you would like to see in Autumn Statement 2014. If you would like to make a suggestion here’s the instructions released on the GOV.UK website:

“In the interest of open and transparent policy-making, the government welcomes original and innovative ideas, which will be considered by HM Treasury as part of the policy-making process. Business, charities and members of the public can submit these views via email to autumnstatementrepresentations@hmtreasury.gsi.gov.uk

In order to inform policy development for the Budget or Autumn Statement, your representation should contain policy suggestions for the upcoming fiscal event and explain the policy rationale, costs, benefits and deliverability of proposals. It should also be evidence based, providing clear arguments on how it contributes to the aims of the Budget or Autumn Statement.

You may wish to consider:

• likely effectiveness and value for money
• revenue implications for the Exchequer
• wider macroeconomic implications (for economic stability and growth)

Such as:

• sectoral impacts
• distributional impacts
• administrative and compliance costs and issues
• legislative and operational requirements
• environmental impact

HM Treasury will not consider representations which are not practicable and/or that violate HM Treasury’s legal obligations, including but not limited to State aid, human rights and diversity. HM Treasury will delete representations which are inappropriate or offensive.

To allow for full consideration in advance of the Autumn Statement, any submission should be sent to HM Treasury by 17 October.”

HMRC and the Pensions Regulator (TPR) are publicising the availability of revised leaflets which warn people of the consequences of pension liberation scams.

HMRC are advising that individuals with pension savings continue to be targeted by unscrupulous companies encouraging them to access their pension savings early. Options are given for personal loans, cash incentives and one-off pension investments to encourage people to invest in these pension scams. Pension savers involved in these pension liberation scams face significant tax consequences.

HMRC has worked closely with TPR on publishing a revised set of leaflets highlighting the serious downsides of pension scams. The leaflets provide guidance on what trustees and scheme members can do to reduce the risk of becoming involved in these scams, and the tax impact of releasing pension funds early using these types of arrangements.

To read the full stories click here (you will be directed to the HMRC website)

The majority of businesses have to file their VAT returns online. HMRC have issued guidance on changes to VAT rules which introduce additional exemptions to the requirement to file VAT returns online. The changes, which came into effect at the beginning of July 2014, allow business owners that satisfy HMRC that it is ‘not reasonably practicable’ for them to use the online system to submit ‘paper’ VAT returns.

HMRC will also be able to approve telephone filing as an alternative method of electronic filing in certain circumstances.

If you would like any advice on VAT issues please do get in touch.

To read more from the HMRC click here

The National Insurance Contributions Bill was published on 18 July 2014. It will introduce legislation (which was consulted on last year) to reform the collection of Class 2 NICs by enabling the self-employed to pay their Class 2 contributions through self-assessment alongside their income tax and Class 4 NICs.

Liability for Class 2 NICs will arise at the end of each tax year and will be collected through self-assessment from April 2016 for the 2015/16 tax year onwards.   This will replace the current method of collection of Class 2 NICs via direct debits or quarterly demands.

Taxpayers will also be able to make voluntary payments of Class 2 if their profits are below a certain threshold to retain their entitlement to certain state benefits.

Many employees and employers find the current tax rules for dealing with travelling and subsistence claims difficult to understand. This is an area that the Office of Tax Simplification is seeking to make more comprehensible. Consequently, the treasury are consulting on possible changes to the rules, and the way that such expenses are reported. The government intends for any new rules to reflect, rather than drive, commercial decisions and that it will be responsive to 21st century working patterns. As is currently the case, any new system would not provide tax relief for private travel or ordinary commuting.

Note that unless the employer holds a dispensation from reporting such expenses, they need to be included on the employee’s or director’s end of the year Form P11d.

If the tax rules or reporting requirements change, we will get in touch to explain the implications for your business.

BUSINESS TRAVEL FOR SELF EMPLOYED TRADERS

Following a recent case in front of the Upper Tier Tax Tribunal involving a doctor with a private practice (Dr Samadian), HMRC are applying the rules for business travel much more strictly.

The “wholly and exclusive” principle states that where there is both a business and a personal reason or benefit in meeting an expense, there is no tax relief for any of the expense. The doctor in question argued that as he was based at home (where he saw some of his patients and ran the business), the expenses of travelling to and from various hospitals and nursing homes should be an allowable business expense. Based on earlier cases, the Tribunal decided that the “habitual” journeys to two hospitals should not be allowed but less regular “itinerant” journeys to other locations would be allowed as a deduction.

Although this case involved a doctor, it has wide ranging implications for other self-employed individuals who operate their business from home and travel regularly to one or two locations. It will become increasingly important to keep a detailed mileage log of business journeys should HMRC challenge the deduction in the business accounts.

UK Businesses will have access to a new suite of services to help boost their international trade through UKTI’s new e-Exporting Programme.

• new suite of services and support to help UK companies take advantage of online selling, forecast to reach £60 billion by 2018
• UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) is working with the world’s leading e-marketplaces to help UK companies fast-track international sales
• UKTI has detailed information for more than 400 of the world’s e-marketplaces, to help companies plan their sales strategies

Businesses of all sizes from across the UK will have access to a new suite of services to help boost their international trade through online channels.

Trade Minister Lord Livingston will launch the government support package on Monday 8 September 2014 at the Autumn Fair at the NEC in Birmingham.

UKTI’s new e-Exporting Programme has been created to ensure UK companies are best placed to tap into the huge opportunities that exist online. The growth of technology has dramatically changed consumers’ purchasing habits with Britons now spending approximately £91 billion a year online making the UK one of the world’s leading e-commerce countries.

UKTI is working with a number of international e-marketplaces including Tmall China, Amazon China, Japanese e-commerce platform Rakuten and Harper’s Bazaar. Operating through these e-marketplaces presents a cost-effective way for companies – particularly small and medium-sized businesses – to increase their reach in terms of both numbers and geography. The programme encourages UK exporters to reach out to the generation of digitally-capable consumers who are increasingly influenced through online channels.

The programme is the first of its kind in the world – UKTI is the only organisation to hold the operational information of global B2C and B2B e-marketplaces with the central aim of using the information to revolutionise exporting.

Car tax changes 1 October 2014

From 1 October 2014, the paper tax disc will no longer need to be displayed on a vehicle windscreen. If you have a tax disc with any months left to run after this date, then it can be removed from the vehicle windscreen and destroyed. Car owners with a Northern Ireland address will still need to display their MoT disc.

You can apply online to tax or SORN your vehicle using your 16 digit reference number from your vehicle tax renewal reminder (V11) or 11 digit reference number from your log book

What this means to you

To drive or keep a vehicle on the road you will still need to get vehicle tax and DVLA will still send you a renewal reminder when your vehicle tax is due to expire. This applies to all types of vehicles including those that are exempt from payment of vehicle tax.

Buying a vehicle

From 1 October, when you buy a vehicle, the vehicle tax will no longer be transferred with the vehicle. You will need to get new vehicle tax before you can use the vehicle.

You can tax the vehicle using the New Keeper Supplement (V5C/2) part of the vehicle registration certificate (V5C) online or by using the DVLA automated phone service. Alternatively, you may wish to visit a Post Office branch.

Selling a vehicle

If you sell a vehicle after 1 October and you have notified DVLA, you will automatically get a refund for any full calendar months left on the vehicle tax.

Vehicle tax refunds

You will no longer need to make a separate application for a refund of vehicle tax. DVLA will automatically issue a refund when a notification is received from the person named on DVLA vehicle register that the:

• vehicle has been sold or transferred
• vehicle has been scrapped at an Authorised Treatment Facility
• vehicle has been exported
• vehicle has been removed from the road and the person on the vehicle register has made a Statutory Off Road Notification (SORN)
• person on the vehicle register has changed the tax class on the vehicle to an exempt duty tax class

Paying vehicle tax by Direct Debit

From 1 October 2014 (5 October if setting up at a Post Office), Direct Debit will be offered as an additional way to pay for vehicle tax. This will be available for vehicle owners who need to tax their vehicle from 1 November 2014:

• annually
• 6 monthly
• monthly (12 months tax paid for on a monthly basis)

Provided an MOT remains valid, the payments will continue automatically until you tell DVLA to stop taking them or you cancel the Direct Debit with your bank. Valid insurance should also be in place for vehicles registered in Northern Ireland.

The Direct Debit will be cancelled and payments automatically stopped when you tell DVLA that you no longer have the vehicle, or the vehicle has been taken off the road and a Statutory Off Road Notification (SORN) has been made.

The High Income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC) affects parents where one partner (or both) have income in excess of £50,000 and either:

• you or your partner get Child Benefit or,
• someone else gets Child Benefit for a child living with you and they contribute at least an equal amount towards the child’s upkeep.

It doesn’t matter if the child living with you is not your own child. ‘Partner’ means someone you’re not permanently separated from who you’re married to, in a civil partnership with or living with as if you were.

The HICBC is a progressive tax that effectively neutralises all or part of the Child Benefit you receive. If you or your partner have income over £50,000 a tax charge will be levied that recovers 1% of any child benefit you or your partner receive for every £100 your income exceeds £50,000. When your income exceeds £60,000 all of the Child Benefit will have been paid back. The charge will need to be declared and paid by the person with the highest income.

Parents whose income exceeded the £50,000 limit in the tax year to 5 April 2014, and one parent continued to receive Child Benefit, will need to submit a self assessment tax return to 5 April 2014 advising HMRC. If you find yourself in this position for the first time we can help you register for self assessment and submit a return online.

For parents with one or two incomes in excess of £60,000 it is possible to cancel your Child Benefit and thus avoid the HICBC. To do this file HMRC’s online request to not receive Child Benefit or call the Child Benefit Office – 0300 200 3100.

 1 September 2014 – Due date for Corporation Tax due for the year ended 30 November 2013.

 19 September 2014 – PAYE and NIC deductions due for month ended 5 September 2014. (If you pay your tax electronically the due date is 22 September 2014.)

 19 September 2014 – Filing deadline for the CIS300 monthly return for the month ended 5 September 2014.

 19 September 2014 – CIS tax deducted for the month ended 5 September 2014 is payable by today.

 1 October 2014 – Due date for Corporation Tax due for the year ended 31 December 2013.

 19 October 2014 – PAYE and NIC deductions due for month ended 5 October 2014. (If you pay your tax electronically the due date is 22 October 2014.)

 19 October 2014 – Filing deadline for the CIS300 monthly return for the month ended 5 October 2014.

 19 October 2014 – CIS tax deducted for the month ended 5 October 2014 is payable by today.

 31 October 2014 – Latest date you can file a paper version of your 2014 Self Assessment tax return.

Readers will be interested, and gratified to hear that HMRC will always treat you as honest. The following is an extract from HMRC’s “Your Charter” which states:

 Your rights – What you can expect from us:

1. Respect you
2. Help and support you to get things right
3. Treat you as honest
4. Treat you even-handedly
5. Be professional and act with integrity
6. Tackle people who deliberately break the rules and challenge those who bend the rules
7. Protect your information and respect your privacy
8. Accept that someone else can represent you
9. Do all we can to keep the cost of dealing with us as low as possible

 Your obligations – What we expect from you:

1. Be honest
2. Respect our staff
3. Take care to get things right.

Considering that we have one of the most complex tax systems, HMRC seems to have set itself and the nation’s tax payers a high bar to clear. Compliance with a known legal obligation is one thing, compliance with an unknown legal obligation is quite another.