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Royal Mail VAT Recovery Bonus
A lead case is to go before the First-Tier Tax Tribunal that could see businesses recover millions of pounds of VAT in respect of Royal Mail’s postal services. In the past, Royal Mail had treated postal services as exempt under the Value Added Tax Act 1994. However, an earlier case brought by TNT determined that…
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Yet another tax U-turn!
In my last blog I posed the question: ‘How many more U-turns?’. Well we have the answer – yet another one and this time on ‘skip tax’. So that makes 5 in a week – not bad going in anyone’s book. Will Mr Osborne manage to regain some credibility over the coming months as future…
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How many more U-turns?
In my last blog I mentioned the need for us to wait for the consultation papers on ‘relief capping’ in the summer to see whether the fierce lobbying from the charity sector had been effective. Well clearly it has as we now have our third major tax U-turn in a week. Mr Osborne announced yesterday…
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Lobbying does pay!
In the past few days a number of national newspapers have been crowing about the part they and their readers have played in getting the Government to back down on certain tax proposals. We have seen this week the Government changing its mind with regard to some of the VAT changes announced in Mr…
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Closing the Tax Gap!
HMRC have just published a paper Closing the tax gap: HMRC’s record at ensuring tax compliance in response to a Treasury Select Committee challenge on the value, or otherwise, of tax gap statistics. The annual tax gap is the amount of tax that could be collected and is not. HMRC defends the usefulness of the…
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Companies House Annual Return – why it could harm your business
Companies House are clamping down hard on the late filing of the annual return form. This is an annual form which updates Companies House about directors and shareholders and comes with an on-line filing fee of £14. If the form is filed three months late Companies House will issue a first gazette notice ‘GAZ1’ which…
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Ding dong taxman calling!
HMRC have indicated that later in the year they will be looking in to the tax affairs of those selling beauty products and lingerie door to door or at parties in their own homes. This follows on their stated intention of examining the tax affairs of those selling goods on the internet. HMRC are keen…
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PAYE Dispensation Agreements – can save you time and money
It is that time of year again when forms P11D have to be filed, disclosing benefits in kind provided to directors and employees earning over £8,500. The filing deadline is 6th July 2012 for the 2011/2012 tax year. The forms disclose information concerning taxable benefits, with the common benefits being company cars and private medical…
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Discretionary fund management not exempt from VAT
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has surprised discretionary fund managers with an unexpected decision not to exempt DFMs from VAT. In an opinion statement published yesterday, an advocate general at the ECJ has recommended all elements of discretionary management services, including initial charges, should be subject to VAT, backing HM Revenue & Customs’ recent…
Last week, our trainees took part in an internal audit training session designed to strengthen their technical knowledge and support their professional development. While gaining practical skills was the key objective, we also wanted to make the learning experience engaging and enjoyable, so we incorporated some games. At Burgis & …
October 14, 2026
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