Qualifying Childcare
The rules on qualifying childcare
for the purposes of tax credits claims changed on 18 July 2009. This reflects
the changes to childcare registration arrangements because of new childcare
law in England.
The changes affect:
• childcare providers who have been approved under the Childcare
Approval Scheme, for example a nanny, and
• foster carers who work as childminders
Claimants of tax credits for childcare payments should be aware that from
18 July the changes may prevent them from continuing to claim for this
part of their award. In short the impact of the changes is :
• The Childcare Approval Scheme will no longer exist. Claimants
will need to ensure that their childcare provider is registered with Ofsted
to permit a continued claim.
• Foster carers who work as childminders will also have to officially
register with Ofsted.
Liechtenstein tax agreement
A new tax information exchange
agreement has been made with Liechtenstein, enabling the 2 countries to
swap information to ensure the right tax is paid in each country.
UK residents holding bank accounts in Liechtenstein will have their details
shared HM Revenue and Customs.
At the same time a new disclosure settlement facility will allow penalties
on unpaid tax to be capped at 10% of tax evaded over the last ten years,
providing the taxpayer is fully open with the taxman.
Those who fail to make full disclosures will have their Lichtenstein accounts
closed down.
The Liechtenstein Disclosure Facility runs from 1 September 2009 to 31
March 2015.
If you have/had any accounts in Liechtenstein and need help with making
the necessary declarations to HM Revenue and Customs, please contact us.
VAT
Online filing
From 1 April 2010 HM revenue and Customs will require most businesses
to file their VAT returns online. In particular, this will affect businesses
with a turnover exceeding £100,000 per annum, and all new businesses
registered for VAT after 31 March 2010.
Other businesses will be allowed to continue with paper returns, but
this will be reviewed in 2012.
For those of you not already filing online, you will need to register
to file and ensure that payments are also made by electronically. If you
require help with this process please contact us as soon as possible.
VAT number verification
The European Commission have updated their on-line service to allow taxpayers
to obtain a certificate to prove that they have checked a VAT number was
valid.
The on-line system is useful to businesses who zero-rate sales to businesses
in other EU countries. The service is available at;
http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/vies/vieshome.do?selectedLanguage=EN
VAT payments
The bank account for all VAT payments has been changed with effect from
8 July 2009. The old Bank of England account will continue to work temporarily
to give time for the change to be reflected by all businesses.
The new account details are
Sort Code: 08 32 00
Account number: 11963155
VAT rate increase
On 1 January 2010 the VAT rate will increase to 17.5%, a 2.5% rise. For
those not able to recover VAT you may want to consider the timing of purchases
over the next few months to avoid the increase in VAT.
Care must be taken regarding purchasing items in advance to avoid the
VAT increase as there are anti-avoidance provisions in force to prevent
abuse. Where the conditions are met for anti-avoidance a supplementary
charge of 2.5% will be made. The relevant conditions are as follows;
• the recipient of the supply (the customer) is not entitled to
credit for, or the repayment or refund of, all of the VAT on the supply,
e.g. an unregistered person or a partially-exempt person;
• the supply is standard-rated;
• the supply takes place after 24 November 2008;
• the supply ‘spans’ the ‘date of the VAT change’,
which is 1 January 2010; and
• at least one of the ‘relevant conditions’ in FA 2009,
Sch. 3, para. 2 or 3 is met.
Paragraph 2
A supply of goods or services ‘spans’ the date of the VAT
change on 1 January 2010 where:
• by virtue of the issue of a VAT invoice or the receipt of a payment
by the supplier, the supply is treated as taking place before the date
of the VAT change, but
• the ‘basic time of supply’ is on or after the date
of the VAT change.
The ‘relevant conditions’ for a supply, other than the grant
of a right to goods or services, are:
• the supplier and the customer are connected with each other at
any time during the period from the date of the supply to the date of
the VAT change (condition A);
• the consideration for the supply and any related supply exceeds
£100,000, excluding VAT (condition B);
• a prepayment was financed by either the supplier or a person connected
with him, e.g. by a loan (condition C); or
• a payment is not due until at least six months from the date a
VAT invoice was issued (condition D which only applies if a VAT invoice
would fix the time of supply)
Paragraph 3
A supply consisting of the grant by a person (‘the grantor’)
of a right to goods or services ‘spans’ the date of the VAT
change on 1 January 2010 where:
• that supply is treated as taking place before the date of the
VAT change;
• the goods or services are to be supplied at a discount or free
of charge; and
• the ‘basic time of supply’ for the supply of some
or all of the goods or services is on or after the date of the VAT change.
The ‘relevant conditions’ for a grant of a right to goods
or services are:
• the grantor and the customer are connected with each other at
any time during the period from the date of the supply to the date of
the VAT change (condition A);
• the consideration for the grant of the right and any related supply
exceeds £100,000, excluding VAT (condition B);
• a payment for the grant of the right was financed by either the
grantor or a person connected with him, e.g. by a loan (condition C)
If you are unsure whether you need to pay the surcharge due to the anti-avoidance
provisions please contact us.
Construction industry subcontractors
HM Revenue and Customs are considering reclassifying self-employed construction
workers as employed. They would then be taxed through PAYE regardless
of the length of time of each assignment.
Comments on the proposal are to be made by 12 October 2009, and implementation
may follow fairly soon after.
Companies House
From 1 October 2009 director’s need no longer make full disclosure
of their home address. They are still required to provide their home address
to Companies House, however this can be protected and will only be available
to certain public authorities and credit reference agencies under certain
conditions.
In order to protect the home address a director needs to provide Companies
House with a separate service address for each directorship, usually the
registered office of the company. If a director chooses to use their home
address as their service address this fact will be protected.
Changes can be made online from 1 October 2009 at
http://www.companieshouse.gov.uk
Further information can be found at
http://www.berr.gov.uk/whatwedo/businesslaw/co-act-2006/faq%20Act%202006/page41084.html
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