Policy News Journal - 2015-16

This legislation provides a new criminal offence for those who have income or gains outside of the UK and evade their UK income tax or capital gains tax responsibilities. The criminal offence does not require the prosecutor to prove intent. New threshold condition for promoters of tax avoidance schemes This legislation will enable HM Revenue and Customs to consider issuing conduct notices to a broader range of promoters under the Promoters of Tax Avoidance Scheme regime. Serial avoiders special regime This legislation will require HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to issue a notice to the user of a tax avoidance scheme which HMRC has defeated. The notice will cover a 5 year period, placing an annual reporting requirement on the taxpayer. Large businesses transparency strategy This legislation will introduce a requirement for all large businesses to publish an annual tax strategy, in so far as it relate to UK activities, approved by the business’s executive board. Large business special measures regime This legislation will result in a business in this position being advised that it may be of risk of being put into special measures. A twelve month improvement period will then allow HMRC and the business to work together to resolve issues. This applies to just a very small number of large businesses who persistently engage in aggressive tax planning and/or who refuse to engage with HMRC. Dependants' scheme pensions This legislation removes the need for calculations to be carried out each year comparing the value of the dependants’ scheme pension to the scheme pension of the member in certain circumstances Personal savings allowance Finance Bill 2016 will implement a personal savings allowance that will mean as of 6 April, 95% of taxpayers will pay no tax on the first £1,000 of savings income if they are a basic rate taxpayer, and the first £500 if they are a higher rate taxpayer. Changes to dividend taxation This legislation will modernise, reform and simplify dividend taxation. Only those with dividend income over £5000 per year, or those who are able to pay themselves dividends in place of wages, will pay more tax. Reduction of pensions lifetime allowance This legislation will reduce the standard lifetime allowance from £1.25 million to £1 million for the tax year 2016 to 2017 onwards and increase the standard lifetime allowance each year by the increase in the consumer prices index from tax year 2018 to 2019 onwards TAX ON SAVINGS AND INVESTMENTS

The Income Tax (Pay As You Earn) (Amendment) Regulations 2016 10 December 2015

HMRC has published draft regulations which amends the information which employers and pension providers are required to report to HMRC. This includes information in respect of certain lump sum payments which are made from registered pension schemes. The draft regulations make changes to the PAYE Real Time Information (RTI) regulations consequential to changes made by the Taxation of Pensions Act 2015 which allow individuals to access their pension savings flexibly, and the changes in the taxation of lump sum death benefits following the changes made in Finance (No 2) Bill 2016.

The changes require pension providers to indicate in their real time information returns whether the payment they are making includes a payment of a certain type.

The Taxation of Pensions Act 2014 made a number of changes to the Finance Act 2004 to allow individuals with money purchase pension savings to flexibly access those savings from age 55. Where an individual receives a lump sum under the pension flexibility rules they are subject to a reduced annual allowance for pensions tax relief, the money purchase annual allowance. The money purchase annual allowance is intended to prevent individuals from using pension flexibility to avoid paying tax on their current earnings. By reporting that the payment being made is a payment of a lump sum under the pension flexibility rules HMRC will know that the money purchase annual allowance applies in the case of this individual. The payments to be reported are:

CIPP Policy News Journal

25/04/2016, Page 295 of 453

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