11-06-2019
On your e-bike

The Cycling Minister, Michael Ellis, has announced a number of changes to the Cycle to Work scheme in an announcement that was timed to coincide with Bike week. Bike week is an annual celebration to showcase cycling across the UK and runs from 8 ... read more

11-06-2019
HMRC cancels penalties charged to 6,000 families

The High Income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC) was introduced in January 2013 and applies a charge to taxpayers whose income exceeds £50,000 in a tax year and who are in receipt of child benefit. The charge claws back the financial benefit of ... read more

11-06-2019
HMRC blocks phone fraudsters

Fraudsters have been blocked from using HMRC’s most used helpline numbers after the introduction of new defensive controls. These fraudsters had been able to make calls to taxpayers across the UK which appeared to be coming from HMRC by ... read more

11-06-2019
Free television licences scrapped for over-75s

The TV licence fee has not been payable by those aged 75 or over since 2001. During 2015, the government reached an agreement with the BBC as part of the last charter renewal that it will take on the cost of free television licences for over-75s by ... read more

11-06-2019
Genuine HMRC messages

HMRC has issued an updated version of their online guidance on Genuine HMRC contact and recognising phishing emails and texts. The guidance provides a current list of genuine messages from HMRC. This includes email messages, text messages and ... read more

11-06-2019
Free information about companies

A surprising amount of free information about companies is available from Companies House. This is in line with the government’s commitment to free data and ensures that all publicly available digital data held on the UK register of companies ... read more

11-06-2019
Employer owned property and sub-letting

In some industries, employers provide accommodation to employees because this is required by the nature of the job. There are no tax charges in respect of the provision of living accommodation where it is necessary for the proper performance of ... read more

11-06-2019
Cashback schemes and tax

Statement of Practice 4/97 sets out HMRC’s views on the correct treatment for tax purposes of commission, cashbacks and discounts. Cashbacks are taken to mean lump sums received by a customer as an inducement for entering into a transaction for ... read more

11-06-2019
VAT reverse charge construction industry

A change to the VAT rules first announced at Budget 2018, will come into effect from 1 October 2019. This change will make the supply of construction services between construction or building businesses subject to the domestic reverse charge. The ... read more

04-06-2019
Working past retirement age

There are many taxpayers who have reached the State Pension age and continue to work. In most cases they no longer need to pay any National Insurance Contributions (NICs). At State Pension age, the requirement to pay Class 1 and Class 2 NICs on ... read more