Archives for December 2012

UK residents with Swiss bank accounts should be aware that new taxation arrangements are scheduled to come into force on 1 January 2013.

The new tax agreement between the UK and Switzerland means that account holders must either provide full details to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) or pay over a proportion of the money in their account and a future withholding tax.

Jennie Granger, HMRC Director General, Enforcement and Compliance, said:

“Swiss banks or accountants are writing to people affected by the agreement. Some may be asking customers to close their accounts. If this happens, UK residents must ensure that any outstanding tax liabilities are paid. Anyone in these circumstances is strongly advised to contact HMRC as soon as possible.”

The agreement includes a withholding tax to deal with the tax on income and gains. Rates currently range from 27 per cent on capital gains up to a maximum of 48 per cent for interest or other non-dividend income. Where the payment option is chosen, any past liability to specified taxes will be dealt with by paying a one-off charge of up to 41 per cent of the total value of the account.

The first taskforces to tackle tax cheats in the rag trade and alcohol industry were launched on 19 November by HMRC.

The specialist taskforce teams will target those who do not pay the right amount of tax in:

• the rag trade in the Midlands, North Wales and North West, including manufacturing, wholesale, retail and textile recycling;
• the alcohol industry in Scotland, including Aberdeen and Inverness;
• the rental property sector in the South East;

They are expected to recover around £17 million.

David Gauke, the Exchequer Secretary, said:

“The vast majority of people play by the rules. We will not tolerate tax evasion and will crack down on the minority who choose to break the rules.

It cannot be fair that, while most people are paying the right tax, a tiny minority are not paying what they should.

HMRC is on target to collect more than £50 million as a result of taskforces launched in 2011-12.”

HMRC relaunched its Business Record Check (BRC) initiative on 1 November 2012.

When the program was first unveiled in January 2011 HMRC intended to visit 50,000 small businesses across the UK. A year later the whole process was reviewed and subsequently suspended following concerns raised by professional bodies and accountants. According to HMRC:

“Up until 17 February 2012, 3,431 BRC had been carried out. These found that 36 per cent of businesses had some issue with their record-keeping of which 10 per cent had issues serious enough to warrant a follow up visit.

Following a review, HMRC announced a fresh approach to its pilot BRC programme on 3 February 2012.

The review of the pilot programme, which included discussions with trade and professional bodies’ representatives, found clear evidence that the programme was effective in improving record-keeping practices amongst SMEs. However, it recommended that the checks were better targeted in future, and linked to wider education and support activities.

In order to implement the review’s recommendations all new BRC activity was paused from 3 February to 31 October 2012 to allow HMRC to redesign the BRC process.”

Essentially, a BRC is just what it says on the tin, an enquiry from HMRC staff to make sure that record keeping is adequate. The relaunch has introduced a change of emphasis:

HMRC now intends to:

• Write to those SMEs selected for a BRC.
• Telephone the selected SMEs to talk through their business record keeping. The call is expected to last 10 – 15 minutes.

Based on the responses received:

• The HMRC officer will assess whether a face to face BRC visit is required.
• If the business records are deemed to be adequate, the HMRC officer making the call will tell the SME and then confirm the decision in writing.
• If the business records are deemed to require improvement, an HMRC officer from the Business Education and Support Team will make contact with the SME.
• If the business records are deemed to be inadequate and a visit required, the HMRC officer will ask one of their colleagues on the booking team to call to make the arrangements.

This appears to be very similar to the traffic light system used by HMRC prior to the suspension. Adequate records were given the green light, records in need of improvement were given the amber light and inadequate records awarded a red light.