HMRC Stakeholder Digest – 11 May 2022
Please see the following message which we are sharing on behalf of HMRC:
This HMRC Stakeholder Digest provides a round-up of our latest news and updates. We would be grateful if you could share with your clients, customers, or members.
Five ways SME’s can get financial support for their business
We’ve written to small or medium businesses (SME) about government support they can access now, to help them invest and grow. This includes:
- Claiming up to £5,000 with the Employment Allowance
- Getting a discount of up to £5,000 on software, with Help to Grow
- Getting up to half off business rates, the business rates multiplier has been frozen for another year and no business rates are due on a range of green technology
- Investing in their business with super-deduction and Annual Investment Allowance
- Benefitting from the cut in Fuel Duty
Tax-Free Childcare – help for parents
We want to make sure that parents are aware of the support we offer them to help ease the cost of childcare.
Tax-Free Childcare can help working parents with annual salaries of up to £100,000 to pay for approved childcare across the UK, including nannies, childminders, before and after school clubs and nurseries.
For every £8 a parent pays into their Tax-Free Childcare account, the government adds £2. Eligible parents with children under 12 could get up to £2,000 per child, per year (or up to £4,000 for each disabled child under 17).
Tax Credit Renewals
Customers who receive tax credits have until the 31 July to update us if there has been a change in their circumstances.
Tax Credits help working families with targeted financial support, so it is important that people do not miss out on money they are entitled to. Between 25 April and 27 May we are issuing around 2.1 million renewal packs to tax credits recipients.
Changes can be quickly made using our app and we have published video guidance on how they can do this.
Moscow stock exchange status
Investors that trade in securities on the Moscow Stock Exchange (MOEX) are no longer able to access UK tax benefits as part of the government’s sanctions and, we confirmed revocation of the Moscow stock exchange’s (MOEX) status as a recognised stock exchange (RSE).
This means the recent restrictions placed on investors by the Bank of Russia means MOEX no longer reaches the overall standard for recognition as an RSE. The revocation takes place alongside the sanctions the government has placed upon Russia because of its illegal invasion of Ukraine.
The announcement follows a two-week consultation, which launched on 19 April 2022, and a summary of consultation responses is available on GOV.UK.
Further information is available on GOV.UK.
Updated guidance: Tax on tips, gratuities and service charges
Last month, we published an update on how tips, gratuities, service charges and troncs are taxed as it reflects the shift in customers giving tips electronically.
Customers making a payment electronically will not affect how tax is calculated or whether a National Insurance liability arises.
How will it work?
Where an employer collects and shares tips with their employees, the employer is required to deduct Income Tax and National Insurance Contributions from the earnings.
If customers choose to pay tips directly to staff, each employee is responsible for declaring these earnings to us so we can adjust their tax code. However, these payments are not subject to National Insurance Contributions and there are also separate rules for payments made through ‘troncs’.
We have also updated the tips at work guidance to reflect the changes.
Please share this information with your constituents to help ensure that both employers and employees are aware of these new changes.
EU import controls
A new approach to import controls has been announced to help ease the cost-of-living pressures. The remaining import controls on EU goods will no longer be introduced this year whilst the government review how to implement these remaining controls using new technologies.
This means that traders will continue to move their goods as normal. However, if businesses import goods from the EU and they have chosen to submit Safety and Security (S&S) declarations, they can continue to do this voluntarily.
We are still committed to closing the Customs Handling of Import and Export Freight (CHIEF) system on exports after 31 March 2023 and on imports after 30 September 2023. A government update is expected to be published in the Autumn on the next steps.
We would encourage your networks to continue to prepare to move to the Customs Declaration Service and guidance this guidance available on GOV.UK.
New data available on transfer pricing and Diverted Profits Tax used by multinational companies
We recently published statistics on the transfer pricing rules and the Diverted Profits Tax. These are measures we take to make sure multinationals pay the right amount of tax on the share of their profits that arise in the UK.
The statistics show that in 2020/21 we secured more than £2.1 billion in additional tax, by challenging transfer pricing arrangements.
Since it was introduced in 2015, Diverted Profits Tax has helped us to secure more than £7.5 billion in extra tax from multinationals (to the end of March 2021) and we continue to actively challenge multinationals on tax due.