HMRC Stakeholder Digest – 4 August 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 updates that we’d be grateful if you could share with your clients, customers, or members, and other HMRC news.
Less than two months for businesses importing goods to move to the Customs Declaration Service
After 30 September 2022, businesses will no longer be able to make import declarations on the Customs Handling of Import and Export Freight (CHIEF) system.
From 1 October 2022, they will need to make import declarations on the Customs Declaration Service instead.
It can take some time to move onto the Customs Declaration Service, so if your members or clients haven’t already taken action, they need to start today. If they don’t, it will result in disruption for their business and may mean they cannot continue to import goods into the UK.
To help make this a smoother process, we have online support including step-by-step checklists on GOV.UK and ‘how to’ videos on YouTube.
Cost of living support payments
Households receiving benefits, including tax credits, are also eligible for a Cost of Living Payment of up to £650, paid in two lump sums of £326 and £324.
In July, many customers who receive tax credits and other eligible benefits, should have received their first Cost of Living payment from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
HMRC plans to pay customers who receive only tax credits and are eligible for Cost of Living Payment automatically this September. This payment date is to avoid duplicate payments with DWP for those on other benefits.
We will contact tax credits customers with payment information, including eligibility criteria.
Payment is automatic into the same bank account where they receive their tax credits payments.
There is no need for customers to contact us because we will be unable to provide more information. Everything they need will be on GOV.UK and in the letter we send before payment.
We have also developed a stakeholder toolkit to help you support your networks.
Marriage allowance – tax relief support available
Married couples or those in a civil partnership could potentially receive tax relief worth up to £1,242.
Marriage Allowance is one of the benefits and reliefs available to boost family finances at a time when many are concerned with the rising cost of living.
Even if a spouse or civil partner has died since 5 April 2018, their partner can still claim by contacting the Income Tax helpline on 0300 200 3300 within UK or +44 135 535 9022 if outside the UK.
To support your customers, members or networks, please share this messaging with them.
More information about a marriage allowance and how it works can be found on GOV.UK.
Sign up and get the right software for Making Tax Digital for VAT
The way businesses need to file VAT returns has changed as part of Making Tax Digital.
We recently contacted all VAT registered businesses under the VAT threshold (£85,000), to remind them about the actions they need to take now.
Regardless of taxable turnover, all VAT registered businesses need to keep digital records, sign up for Making Tax Digital and file all future VAT returns using compatible software. This will reduce common mistakes and make it quicker and easier for them to manage their tax affairs.
Time is running out, so if they haven’t done it yet, businesses should sign up for Making Tax Digital and make sure they have the right software now.
Further help and support for Making Tax Digital can be found on GOV.UK.
Other news:
Tax avoidance promoter fined £1 million at First-Tier Tax Tribunal
Hyrax Resourcing Ltd, a disguised remuneration tax avoidance scheme promoter, has been fined £1 million after our successful legal challenge at the First-Tier Tax Tribunal.
They were handed the maximum £600 a day for failing to disclose details for 1,791 days, resulting in a total fine of £1,074,600.
In its ruling the tribunal described Hyrax’s failing to disclose the scheme as “a very serious matter” and the “statutory maximum penalty is appropriate”.
This recent win supports our wider work to drive tax avoidance schemes and their promoters out of business.
Ingenious Games LLP appeal decision
The Court of Appeal has dismissed another attempt of Ingenious Games LLP to help their partners put off paying tax owed to the public purse.
This long-running battle demonstrates our determination to stop such attempts to avoid tax.
We’ll now recover the tax owed from the individuals who haven’t yet settled.
These types of ‘film tax avoidance schemes’ are no longer marketed because our successful challenges to these schemes have driven them out of the market.
Further details about the Ingenious Games LLP & Ors V Commissioner for Her Majesty’s Revenues and Customs (2022) decision is available online on the British and Irish Legal Information institute website.
HMRC Performance update: Q1 2022-23
Today (4 August 2022) we have published our performance data for quarter one of 2022 to 2023 and monthly performance data for April, May and June.
The first quarter of the tax year is always our busiest period, and in Q1 this year, a number of factors impacted both the demand on our services and our ability to respond. We are sorry that some customers and agents have experienced delays when dealing with us.
We continue to make steady improvements - customer satisfaction has remained above 80% since April and the proportion of callers wanting to speak to an adviser who were able to do so increased from 71.2% in March to 78.7% in June. And the average speed of answer on our helplines has improved by more than 5 minutes since the start of the financial year.
In the current challenging economic conditions, many of our customers will continue needing support to pay what they owe, and we will see continuing pressure on our services for some time, but we are focused on continuing to deliver service improvements for our customers quarter on quarter this year despite these challenges.
Read our full performance update for 2022 to 2023 quarter one.