Month: May 2016
The Prime Minister will be hosting the Anti-Corruption Summit on 12 May 2016 to help expose, punish and drive out corruption. The summit will be the first of its kind bringing together world leaders to prepare a global response to tackle corruption.
Ahead of the summit the Home Secretary, Theresa May has set out a new action plan which will make the most significant changes to the UK’s anti-money laundering and terrorist finance regime in over a decade.
The new action plan sets out 3 priorities:
- an enhanced law enforcement response to the threats we face – that means building new capabilities in our law enforcement agencies and creating tough new legal powers to enable the relentless disruption of criminals and terrorists;
- reform of the supervisory regime to ensure that it is consistent, effective and brings those few companies who facilitate or enable money laundering to task;
- increase the international reach of law enforcement agencies and international information sharing to tackle money laundering and terrorist financing threats.
The Home Secretary, Theresa May said:
‘Britain’s world leading financial system is at risk of being undermined by money laundering, illicit finance and the funding of terrorism. The laundering of proceeds of crime through UK institutions is not only a financial crime, it fuels political instability around the world, supports terrorists and extremism and poses a direct and immediate threat to our domestic security and our overseas interests.’
Families and individuals that receive tax credits should ensure that they renew their tax credit claims by 31 July 2016. Claimants who do not renew on-time may have their payments stopped.
HMRC has begun sending tax credits renewal packs to approximately 5.9 million tax credit claimants. The packs are being sent between April and June. HMRC is encouraging recipients to renew their tax credits claim online. Last year over 750,000 claimants renewed online.
Nick Lodge, HMRC’s Director General, Benefits and Credits, said:
‘Our online service means that you can renew at any time of the day or night, and on any device, without having to call us. Online help can also answer most queries you may have and a web chat facility will be available to support people renewing online. We urge everyone who can to go online.’
Claimants need to notify HMRC where there have been changes to the family size, child care costs, number of hours worked and salary. Details of previous year’s income also need to be completed on the form to allow HMRC to check if the correct tax credits have been paid. Claimants must also inform HMRC of any changes in circumstances not already reported during the year such as new working hours, different childcare costs or changes in pay.
The child tax credit has been designed to help lower income families with children. Credits are available to families with low to moderate income. Child tax credit is paid directly to the main carer in the family either weekly or monthly and is usually paid directly to a designated bank or building society account. The working tax credit assists taxpayers on low incomes by providing top-up payments.
Source: HM Revenue & Customs | 27-04-2016
Late last year, the government confirmed that a new secondary annuity market would be created by April 2017. The introduction of these new freedoms to sell annuities will benefit more than five million people who own an annuity as well as anyone who purchases an annuity in the future. These proposals will extend the pension freedoms introduced last year and will be especially relevant for those who retired before April 2015 and had little choice but to purchase a pensions annuity product.
A new consultation has been published and sets out the tax framework for the secondary market for annuities. The consultation is open for comment until 15 June 2016. The suggested changes will remove the current tax constraints and provide new options for individuals to sell their annuity bought with funds from a tax relieved pension pot, in return for a taxable lump sum, or for the sale proceeds to be paid to a more flexible pension product.
It is not intended that these new tax rules will override any other contractual, legislative or other legal restrictions that prevent individuals from assigning or surrendering annuities that are not in their name.
Source: HM Revenue & Customs | 27-04-2016
Now that the 2015-16 tax year has ended, employers should have completed their final PAYE submission for the tax year. It is important that employers remember to provide relevant employees with a copy of their P60 form by 31 May 2016.
The P60 is a statement issued to employees after the end of each tax year that shows the amount of tax they have paid on their salary. Employers can provide the P60 form on paper or electronically. Employees should ensure they keep their P60s in a safe place as it is an important record of the amount of tax paid.
In addition, a P60 is required in order that an employee can prove how much tax they have paid on their salary, eg:
- to claim back overpaid tax;
- to apply for tax credits;
- as proof of your income if you apply for a loan or a mortgage.
Employees who have left their employment during the tax year do not receive a P60 from their employer, as the same information will be on their P45.
Source: HM Revenue & Customs | 27-04-2016
A new customs information paper has been released on the subject of the introduction of the Union Customs Code (UCC) legislation and how it affects Temporary Storage (TS).
The UCC is being introduced across the European Union on 1 May 2016. The UCC is part of the modernisation of customs and will serve as the new framework Regulation on the rules and procedures for customs throughout the EU. Under the UCC, there will be a number of changes to how goods cross EU borders and some transitional arrangements will operate until 2020.
Anyone operating from a TS facility must be approved to do so in their own name and under UCC criteria. There are transitional measures in place for existing TS approvals.
This allows those already operating a TS facility to continue to operate in the present way, whether leasing, subcontracting or sharing the facility until the earliest of the following:
- you need to make an adjustment to your authorisation;
- a new authorisation is applied for after its natural expiry date;
- 1 May 2019 whichever is the earliest.
- From 1 May 2016, any new request for a TS approval will be made under UCC criteria including the requirement to exclusively operate the facility.
Source: HM Revenue & Customs | 27-04-2016
New rules introduced in April 2015 require employment intermediaries, which supply two or more workers to a client, to send HMRC details of workers where they don’t operate PAYE on the workers’ payments. HMRC have introduced these new rules to help combat issues of false self-employment and the abuse of offshore working by some intermediaries.
There is no requirement to send HMRC reports for UK employers that supply workers to end clients where nobody else is involved and where they operate PAYE when they pay those workers. The report (or reports) must be sent to HMRC once every 3 months. The most recent reporting period ran from 6 January to 5 April 2016 and intermediaries must submit the report to HMRC by 5 May 2016. Intermediaries required to make a return must be registered with HMRC online services.
A report can be removed after it has been sent. The latest report may be removed by 5 August 2016. There are penalties for failure to submit a return on-time as well as for incomplete or incorrect returns. Penalties for a first offence start at £250. The various pieces of guidance have recently been updated to take account of the new tax year and to make some other small changes.
