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Latest News - January 2012
Annual Investment Allowance
From 1st April 2012 (6th April for Income Tax) the Annual Investment Allowance (AIA), which gives 100% relief on capital expenditure for almost all businesses is reducing from £100,000 to £25,000. The annual allowance is calculated pro-rata but the date of expenditure has to fall within the qualifying period. Therefore a business with an accounting period which straddles the April cut off date, effectively has two periods for AIA and the level of allowance and expenditure will be looked at separately in each of these two periods. The timing of capital expenditure could impact on the tax allowances available.
Opportunity to dissolve unwanted companies
When dissolving an unwanted company there are two main options: a formal liquidation via an Insolvency Practitioner; or an informal striking off of a company directly with Companies House. The tax treatment of the informal winding up has long been governed by a Revenue concession referred to as ESC C16. The effect of this has been that a distribution to shareholders in an informal winding up can be treated as capital and potentially subject to 10% capital gains tax.
Taxman to review record checks project
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is to carry out a review of its Business Record Checks project, designed to tackle poor record-keeping by small and medium-sized enterprises.
Employment tribunal fees plan unveiled
The government has outlined its plans for charging fees to take cases to employment tribunals, designed to cut a multi-million pound bill for the taxpayer and ease pressure on businesses.
‘Excessive’ payment surcharges to be outlawed
Businesses will be banned from levying “excessively high” surcharges on all forms of payment before the end of this year, under government plans.
Website owners ‘need to get to work’ on cookies law
Website owners must try harder to comply with the new cookies law, according to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
Acas chief warns of social media challenge
Social media is likely to be one of the biggest workplace issues in 2012, the head of employment relations service Acas has warned.
Time running out for tobacco displays
Time is ticking away for the first retailers to be affected by a ban on tobacco displays to ensure their premises are compliant with the law.
E-trader jailed over VAT fraud
An online trader has been jailed for attempting to evade more than £420,000 of VAT, ahead of the launch of an HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) campaign targeting people who use e-marketplaces to buy and sell goods and who fail to pay tax owed.
