In the news: April 2023

‘John Cullinane, director of public policy at the CIOT, said the “sacred cow” of the UK’s high VAT threshold had been “too much of a political nettle to grasp”. He recommended that the government consider a “smoothing mechanism”.’

 Financial Times, 27 Jan

‘The CIOT has called on the government to urgently review interest rates on late taxes, which are charged at 6.5%, more than double the 3% rate that applies to tax refunds. Richard Wild, of the CIOT, said the differential ... was “simply inequitable”.’

Daily Telegraph, 10 Feb

‘Half of all Scots want council tax scrapped according to a new poll amid warnings local authority chiefs are not ruling out a 10% hike this year. The survey was carried out for the CIOT by pollster Mark Diffley from 12 to 17 January.’

The Herald, 12 Feb

‘The ATT has urged the government to reform employment laws, saying taxation rules around homeworking are “surprisingly complex” and inconsistent. Technical officer Helen Thornley said the ATT was aware of “reports that for staff with flats in London, the typical office desk that an employer might look to supply to them just doesn’t fit. But they can’t go out and buy their own and claim it back from their employer – even if the employer is quite happy to pay – without a tax issue arising”.’

Financial Times, 13 Feb

‘Emma Rawson, technical officer at the ATT, added that there is a lack of awareness around the need to pay tax on free products given to influencers for promotional purposes. “Normally, you would have to work out what it’s worth and how much tax you owe,” she said.’

Financial Times, 17 Feb

‘Firms will up the ante before the new measures come in... It’s long been our view that you can’t ever imagine a taxpayer wanting to give a tax rebate firm legal authority over their tax affairs.’

Meredith McCammond of LITRG on tax rebate firms ramping up activity ahead of the introduction of new protections for taxpayers, Daily Telegraph, 19 Feb