Harmful tax competition between countries should be eliminated according to a report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The 2000 report has been widely welcomed by the government. The report identifies 47 harmful tax regimes controlled by 35 jurisdictions. These include three Crown dependencies and five UK overseas territories. The three Crown...Read More

An employee earning up to £30,000 may have a stakeholder pension, in addition to being a member of an occupational pension scheme, it was announced in 2000. This late change represents a huge shift in pension thinking which has generally only allowed a person to be a member of one type of pension scheme at...Read More

The Pay As You Earn regulations are to be included in the tax rewrite project. The new rules should become law in 2001/02. The rewrite programme is intended to replace over 6,000 pages of intense legal verbiage with simpler and clearer rules. The first such rewrite covers capital allowances and is expected to become law...Read More

From 1 January 2001, there is a new tax offence of evading income tax. The offence may be tried summarily in the magistrates’ court or on indictment in the Crown Court (with equivalent provisions for Scotland and Northern Ireland). The penalty on summary conviction is up to £5,000 fine or six months’ imprisonment. On indictment,...Read More

Extra-statutory concession A59 has been relaxed in 2000 to extend the scope of the tax-free assistance which may be provided by an employer in meeting the travel expenses of a disabled employee. Under the new provisions, there is no tax charge if the employer pays for any home to work travel for the employee, however...Read More

Customs has revised its tax treatment for supplies made by undisclosed agents, it announced in 2000. The change could reduce the VAT burden on non-EC or intra-Community supplies. The main change is to treat the agent as a principal. In most cases, this will have no overall effect on the net amount of VAT charged....Read More

From 1 January 2001, women’s sanitary products are subject to a special reduced rate of 5%. This is the lowest level which may be charged under EU law. At present, the reduced rate only applies to domestic fuel and certain supplies of insulation. The regulations define the products within the scope as pads, tampons and...Read More

Transfers of social housing from local authorities to registered social landlords are exempt from stamp duty from 22 March 2000. Any stamp duty paid for transfers after this date may be reclaimed. [2000]Read More

A revised version of the Finance Bill has been published. The Bill has grown from 152 clauses to 154. The two additional clauses relate to the new offence of tax evasion, and to additional provisions regarding share options. [2000]  Read More

Inland Revenue has admitted in Working Together that it is suffering problems in processing 1999/2000 tax returns. According to the article this is because of problems caused by changes in legislation, particularly extending the 10% rate to savings income. Other articles indicate that the problems are more serious. Accountancy Age reports that Inland Revenue is...Read More