Most comment on the 2000 Budget was that it was prudent and politically astute. It was interesting that much of the short speech concentrated on spending rather than raising revenue. Many commentators said that the government was trying to buy back support from traditional Labour heartlands. The Guardian predicted a tax-cutting vote-winning Budget next year....Read More

Inland Revenue has belatedly announced details of the tax regime for stakeholder pensions. These include many unusual provisions, particularly regarding contribution limits, which can be used for tax avoidance. This is surprising considering the government’s pronouncements on tax avoidance. Stakeholder pensions may be provided from April 2001, but any business considering offering them is advised...Read More

The rate of tax deductible under the Construction Industry Scheme reduces from 23% to 18% from 6 April 2000. The Construction Industry Scheme requires contractors to deduct an amount from payments to subcontractors unless the subcontractor has a certificate allowing him to be paid gross. The sum is paid to Inland Revenue and counts towards...Read More

The Institute of Directors has severely criticised the new tax provisions which apply national insurance to benefits in kind from April. Although the national insurance rules largely mirror the tax provisions, this is not always the case. This means that employers must still consider the tax and national insurance implications separately. In particular, national insurance...Read More

A double contributions convention was signed by the governments of the UK and Japan on 29 February 2000. This is like a double taxation convention but relates to social security contributions. The main provision is that a person from one country working in the other will pay social security contributions only in their home country....Read More

Readers are reminded that there are huge changes to the administration of payroll from April 2000. These include: introduction of student loan recovery; introduction of tax credits; a new earnings threshold for employees’ national insurance; the introduction of national insurance rebates; the extension of national insurance to benefits in kind. Student loan recovery is not...Read More

Companies should not routinely send full financial accounts to all shareholders, but should send a much simplified document with the option for the shareholder to ask for the full accounts, according to a proposal in a discussion paper from the Accounting Standards Board. For some companies with large numbers of shareholders, such as utility companies,...Read More

A recent court case has widened the definition of a shadow director. This could have serious implications for those who control or influence a company without being registered as a director of the company. In the case, shadow directors were disqualified from acting as directors for a total of 16 years.   The case makes...Read More

A record 1,489 directors were disqualified in 1999. This is a 10% increase on the previous year. A recent high profile disqualification led to Lord Moyne, Sir William Shelton and Sir Charles Blois each being disqualified as directors for five years with a fourth person. They were directors of Access to Justice Ltd which aimed...Read More

A judge has the right to allow a disqualified director to be involved in the management of a company. This was decided in the first case in which such leave had been granted to a director disqualified for eight years, and was the first case where the Secretary of State wished to oppose the court’s...Read More