UK: Finance Act 2016, Section 162(1) and Schedule 20 Regulations 2016
On 19 December 2016, the Finance Act 2016, Section 162(1) and Schedule 20 (Appointed Day) Regulations 2016 were made. The Regulations appoint 1st January 2017 as the day on which section 162(1) of and Schedule 20 to the Finance Act 2016 (c. 24)
See MoreUK: Revised professional code of conduct to combat tax avoidance
On 1 November 2016 HMRC announced that seven leading tax and accountancy bodies in the UK have revised their Professional Conduct in Relation to Tax (PCRT) to emphasize that members of these professional bodies should not encourage tax avoidance
See MoreUK: Report highlights HMRC tax investigations of high net worth individuals
The UK’s National Audit Office has noted that the tax authority HMRC is currently pursuing around a third of the UK’s wealthiest people for a total of around GBP 1.9 billion in underpaid tax. The National Audit Office (NAO) is a watchdog that
See MoreUK: Consultation on tackling the hidden economy
On 26 August HMRC launched three new consultations containing proposals to tackle the hidden economy. Comments are invited from interested parties by 21 October 2016. Hidden economy: extended power to collect data from money service
See MoreOECD: Discussion draft on branch mismatch structures
On 22 August 2016 the OECD released a discussion draft on branch mismatch structures under Action 2 of the OECD report on base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS). Comments are invited from interested parties by 19 September 2016. The discussion
See MoreUK: Strengthening tax avoidance sanctions and deterrents
The UK government issued a discussion document on strengthening tax avoidance sanctions and deterrents on 17 August 2016. In recent years the UK government has taken steps to tackle tax avoidance by introducing tougher measures and structural
See MoreUK: Consultation on tackling disguised remuneration
On 10 August 2016 HMRC issued a consultation document on tackling disguised remuneration. This consultation follows the issue earlier in the year of an overview of the proposed changes and a technical note setting out the background and intended
See MoreUK: Research report on intermediaries legislation
On 12 July 2016 HMRC published the results of research undertaken to understand the implications for employers and engagers if they are given responsibility for operating the intermediaries legislation. The intermediaries legislation combats tax
See MoreUK: Consultation on reforms to the intermediaries legislation for the public sector
The intermediaries legislation was introduced in the UK to ensure that people doing the same work for the same pay were liable to the same tax and national insurance contributions whether employed directly or working through an intermediary such as
See MoreUK: Updated guidance on PAYE penalties confirms continuation of penalty easement
HMRC has issued updated guidance on penalties for late filing and non-filing of PAYE returns and how to avoid them. The revised guidance confirms that employers filing their full payment within three days after the due date will not have to pay a
See MoreOECD: Taxing Wages 2016
The OECD has published Taxing Wages 2016 which shows that tax on income from labor remained at 35.9% for OECD countries in 2015, the same as in the previous year. Before that the tax burden on labor had been rising for some years. The publication
See MoreUK: Responses to consultation on company distributions
On 24 March 2016 the UK published a summary of responses to the consultation on company distributions. This consultation followed the announcement by the government in the summer budget of 2015 that the taxation of dividend income would be reformed
See MoreUK: Regulations on Country by Country Reporting
The Taxes (Base Erosion and Profit Shifting) (Country-by-Country Reporting) Regulations 2016 contain detailed regulation on country by country (CbC) reporting. The regulations provide the detailed procedure for CbC reporting in line with the
See MoreUK: deemed domicile for income tax and capital gains tax
The UK is currently conducting a consultation on measures changing the rules for non-UK domiciled individuals. The changes are to be included in the Finance Bill 2016 and are to take effect from 6 April 2017. Draft legislation has been introduced to
See MoreUK: HMRC Publishes Statistics on Accelerated Payments Notices
The UK tax authority HMRC has noted in a press release of 8 February 2008 that more than GBP 2 million has been collected under the accelerated payments provisions. Under these provisions the users of tax avoidance schemes must pay tax up-front
See MoreIMF Technical Note on introducing a GAAR
On 31 January 2016 the IMF issued a technical note on ensuring that a general anti-avoidance rule (GAAR) achieves its purpose. Many countries have either introduced a GAAR or are considering its introduction, which the objective of combating
See MoreEuropean Commission publishes Anti Tax Avoidance Package
The European Commission published its Anti Tax Avoidance Package on 28 January 2016. This package consists of the following main elements: Anti Tax Avoidance Directive The provisions of a proposed Anti Tax Avoidance Directive have been published
See MoreUK: Annual report on code of practice for banks
The Code of Practice on Taxation for Banks was published in December 2009. This voluntary Code of Practice was a non-statutory statement of principles on bank governance, openness and attitudes to tax planning. The larger financial institutions are
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