HMRC Stakeholder Digest – 24 February 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, which we’d be grateful if you could share with your clients, customers or members.

The Government has set up a dedicated support page where businesses can find the right support, advice and information to help with the impact of coronavirus (COVID-19).

Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme closure announcement

The Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme (SSPRS) will close on 17 March 2022.

Employers have until 24 March 2022 to submit any final claims, or to amend claims already submitted.

From 25 March, normal Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) rules will return, meaning employers will start paying SSP from the fourth qualifying day their employee is off work, regardless of the reason for their sickness absence.

For more information on eligibility and how to make a final claim, go to GOV.UK. 

How to include grants and payments in your accounts and company tax return

Coronavirus grants and payments to support businesses during the pandemic are taxable.

If a business needs to complete a Company Tax Return and has claimed any of the following - Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) grants, Eat Out to Help Out (EOHO) payments or any coronavirus grants and payments made by local authorities, devolved administrations or other public authorities - they’ll need to include them as income when calculating their taxable profits in the usual way, in line with the relevant accounting standards.

Filing software should automatically tag the amounts using the new Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme income or other coronavirus grants tags.

More information on calculating taxable profits is available in the Company Tax Return guide.

Additional reporting requirements for CJRS grants and/or EOHO payments

If a business received a CJRS grant and/or an EOHO payment, this will also need to be included in the specific boxes provided on the CT600.

They should:

• put grant and payments in boxes 471, 472 and 647
• any CJRS or EOHO overpayments in boxes 473, 474 and 526.

These boxes were added to the CT600 on 6 April 2021. If a business received a CJRS grant or EOHO payment and their return was either filed before 6 April 2021 or after that date but without completing the relevant boxes, their return may need to be amended.

When to submit an amended return

If a business has already filed their Company Tax Return, they will only need to submit an amended return if:

• they did not declare all their coronavirus grants and payments as taxable income, or
• they still have overpayments due from those grants.

If a business’ coronavirus support overpayments were already repaid or have already been assessed before the tax return was filed, and there’s no overpayment remaining due for payment, there’s no need to amend the return. More information on this is available in the Company Tax Return guide.

For more information on which grants to report, how to report them, and what happens if a business has claimed too much, they can attend a webinar or watch this video about how to report COVID-19 taxable grants and payments.

Uncertain tax treatment

Legislation being introduced by Finance Bill 2021 to 2022 includes a new requirement for large businesses to notify HMRC of uncertain tax treatments. It affects businesses with either, or both:

• a UK turnover above £200 million
• a UK balance sheet total above £2 billion

The measure, which takes effect from 1 April 2022, is intended to increase tax revenue by helping to reduce the legal interpretation portion of the tax gap, a significant amount of which is attributed to large businesses. A behavioural impact is anticipated, reflecting an expectation that some businesses will no longer adopt a tax treatment that may be considered ‘uncertain’ because of the need to notify. In addition, notifications will enable HMRC to become aware of potentially incorrect tax treatments sooner than would otherwise have been the case and facilitate better deployment of resources, earlier conversations and, where appropriate, earlier challenge of the approach a business has taken.

HMRC has been engaging with stakeholder organisations representing large businesses and large agent firms in the legal and accounting sectors. Two iterations of draft guidance explaining how uncertain tax treatment will operate have been published for consultation and it is intended the guidance will be published in final form during w/c 28 February. We will continue to seek stakeholder input, including to identify and prioritise issues across HMRC’s published tax technical guidance that requires updating to enable businesses to accurately identify when a transaction is uncertain.

HMRC is also supporting customers to implement the changes. This includes plans to contact them directly in early March, to provide a link to the final published version of uncertain tax treatment guidance, and to invite them to attend one of two live webinars we are hosting on 8 and 9 March. In addition, where businesses do not have a nominated customer compliance manager (CCM) we will provide them with support through the Mid-sized Business Customer Support Team.

To inform the webinar content and our future communications, we are inviting customers and stakeholders to submit any questions they may have by Wednesday 2 March to  [email protected].

Corporation Tax (CT) and VAT telephony shuttering in February and March 

Following the success of the December test and learn, the CT and VAT telephony lines will see a further telephony shuttering exercise on Fridays in February and March 2022: 

• CT - 25 February to 25 March 2022 
• VAT (excluding bereavement) - 25 February to 25 March 2022 (excluding 4 March) 

We’ve listened to feedback from our stakeholders and selected these dates to avoid key events on these lines, including the VAT peak. This will allow us to maintain our customer service levels throughout the rest of the week.  

Based on current plans, we expect to see a significant improvement in our service levels in these critical areas. 

On average, we cleared more than 4,000 additional pieces of post each day during the December test and learn and we were able to offer an acceptable level of service to the additional customers who called us the following Monday.

We are still considering how our learning could be used to help other telephony lines within our business in the future. 

Making Tax Digital for VAT is coming – are you ready?

All VAT-registered businesses must sign up for Making Tax Digital (MTD) from 1 April this year. This means keeping digital records and filing VAT returns using MTD compatible software. 

We are running a series of webinars covering the basics of MTD for VAT, including advice on using software and keeping digital records.

Learn more about how to get ready for MTD by attending one of our webinars for businesses or agents.

For more information on MTD for VAT, visit GOV.UK.

Four days left to file Self Assessment returns

With less than one week to go, time is running out for 1.5 million customers who need to file their Self Assessment tax return.

The deadline for submitting tax returns was 31 January 2022 but, this year, we gave customers extra time to complete their 2020 to 2021 tax return. They have until 28 February to file their return to avoid a late filing penalty. We have given customers until 1 April to pay their outstanding tax bill or set up a time to pay arrangement to avoid receiving a late payment penalty.

What do customers need to declare?

Customers will need to declare if they received any grants or payments from the COVID-19 support schemes up to 5 April 2021 for the 2020-21 financial year. These include;

• Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS).
• Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.
• other COVID-19 grants and support payments such as self-isolation payments, local authority grants and those for the Eat Out to Help Out scheme.
• The £500 one-off payment for working households receiving tax credits should not be reported in Self-Assessment.
• Customers should check and make any changes to their tax return to make sure any Self-Employment Income Support Scheme or other COVID-19 support payments have been reported correctly in their Self Assessment.

Time to Pay Service:

The existing Time to Pay service allows any individual or business who needs it, the option to spread their tax payments over time. Almost 100,000 customers have used this service since April last year, spreading the cost of their tax bill into manageable monthly instalments. Customers with up to £30,000 of tax debt can do this online once they have filed their return.

HMRC app:

Customers are now able to make Self Assessment payments quickly and securely by using the HMRC app which can be downloaded on both IOS and android devices. They can make secure Self Assessment payments through the app can be paid by Direct Debit, personal debit card or corporate or commercial credit or debit card. If customers owe more than £30,000, or need longer to pay, they should call the Self-Assessment Payment Helpline on 0300 200 3822.

Time off work for bereavement guidance

Acas has published updated guidance on time off for bereavement at work. A bereavement can be a difficult and sensitive time for both employers and employees. Acas guidance covers what employers can do to support staff who are going through or experiencing a bereavement at work.

Acas has also created a communications toolkit, including draft copy and assets, and would appreciate your help in sharing this resource with your networks.

Help to Grow schemes: boost businesses’ performance and growth

Help to Grow is a range of new UK wide government backed training and software, designed to help small and medium sized businesses across the UK learn new skills, reach new customers, and boost profits. Eligible small businesses can access: 

Help to Grow: Management

Help to Grow: Management is an intensive leadership and management course that could help improve businesses’ performance and growth potential. 

Delivered by leading business schools across the UK, Help to Grow: Management is a 12-week course that is designed to be manageable alongside fulltime work. The course offers in-depth training run by expert facilitators, 10 hours of 1:1 support from a business mentor, and the opportunity to share ideas with local peers during peer-networking sessions. 

The course covers a wide array of topics such as strategies for growth and innovation, leading high-performance teams, financial management and responsible business practices. Participants will hear from inspirational business leaders and learn alongside local peers, with access to a national alumni network. By the end of the programme they will have developed a tailored business growth plan to increase productivity and grow their revenue, helping to take their business to the next level.

The course is 90% subsidised by government, meaning businesses only have to pay a £750 joining fee. Businesses from any sector that have 5-249 employees and have been operating from at least one year are welcome to apply.

Find out more about Help to Grow: Management and to register for a course on GOV.UK.

Help to Grow: Digital

Businesses across the UK can now access free and impartial online support to see how digital technology can save time and money and boost their business’ performance. The new platform could help them to understand the benefits of different types of software and identify which could help their business goals. Support will be provided through interactive tools and technology-specific guides.

This online support service is joined by a financial discount scheme, where eligible businesses will be able to apply for a discount of up to 50% on the costs of approved software from a range of leading technology suppliers, worth up to £5,000. This discount is available for software that helps businesses build customer relationships and increase sales (CRM software) and manage their accounts and finances digitally (Digital Accounting software). Additional software products, including e-Commerce software, are expected to become available soon. The voucher will be available to UK businesses that have 5-249 employees and have been trading for more than 12 months.

With many businesses needing to adapt the way they do business during the pandemic, the support the Government is offering through Help to Grow: Digital will help them to improve their productivity and take the next step to grow.

Businesses can register their interest in the scheme on GOV.UK.