Six areas of focus for accountants, plus a Guide to share with clients.
1. General economic outlook
After nine years of consecutive growth, the Chancellor announced revised GDP growth forecasts of 1.2% for 2019, down from 1.6% (OBR) and 1.4% in 2020 - based on an orderly transition to a new relationship with the EU. The downgraded forecast was given based on notable weakness in business investment in recent months.
UK economy growth is predicted to continue for the next five years.
The OBR expect to see 600,000 new jobs in the UK economy by 2023.
Public sector (national) debt is expected to fall to 82.2% of GDP this year, down from 83.3%, converging at 73% of GDP in 2023-24.
2. Income rates and tax
MTD for new taxes is delayed until 2021. The Chancellor stated that 'the government will not be mandating Making Tax Digital for any new taxes or business in 2020'. MTDfV is still going ahead and applies from April 2019. The extension to other areas will now not happen in 2020.
As expected, basic personal allowance threshold will be raised from £11,850 to £12,500 from April 2019.
The Chancellor has announced a review of the relationship between minimum wage rates and productivity, announcing labour economy expert Professor Adrindrajit Dube as the review’s Chair. The terms of reference are available to view
3. Public sector spending
The Chancellor announced his intention to launch a three-year spending review to set departmental budgets to be announced before Parliamentary summer recess, expected in July 2019. The review will aim to report back ahead of the Autumn Budget.
A further £260m funding was committed to the Borderlands growth deal, including Dumfries and Galloway, Scottish Borders, Northumberland, Cumbria and Carlisle City. The funds will be available to boost local economies through improving transport links, encouraging new ventures, promoting tourism and encouraging other inward investment.
The government guaranteed £3bn of borrowing by housing associations in England for the Affordable Homes Guarantee Scheme, to support delivery of around 30,000 affordable homes.
4. Apprenticeships
Changes to apprenticeship funding have been brought forward to April 2019. This means that from April, non-levy employers and levy-payers that have already spent their allocated funds will only need to invest 5% of the cost of training their apprentice. Levy payers will also be able to transfer 25% of their funds to their supply chains, up from 10%.
5. Energy and sustainability
The Spring Statement announced a call for evidence on the Business Energy Efficiency Scheme which will invite comments on encouraging SMEs to invest in energy efficient upgrades to their business. The call for evidence is open until 8 May 2019.
It was also announced that a £6m ‘Boosting Access for SMEs to Energy Efficiency’ competition is open for applications. This competition will fund the development of new business models that aggregate and scale up the delivery of small-scale energy efficiency building projects in the commercial and industrial sectors. Applications need to be received in the next 8 weeks, by 8 May 2019.
New Future Homes Standard to be released by 2025 to enforce new low-carbon heating and energy efficiency levels in new build homes.
6. Infrastructure
The Chancellor announced a new consultation on Infrastructure Finance, seeking businesses' views on how government can encourage and protect private sector investment in UK infrastructure as the relationship with the European Investment Bank changes. The portal will be open for responses until 5 June 2019.
The government will publish a National Infrastructure Strategy to establish a long-term view of the UK’s infrastructure needs including strategic transport links in the north and smart energy systems.
Download our Guide to the Spring Statement and share with your clients to help them be better informed about its impact.
If you have yet to act, follow our guidance to avoid any last minute chaos and browse our FAQs.
If you have yet to act, follow our guidance to avoid any last minute chaos and browse our FAQs.
Practitioners and businesses will be filing their last VAT return under the old filing system for their March 2019 month/quarter end. If they are not using any software, they must maintain digital records from 1 April 2019 onwards to submit their MTD VAT returns.
Registration of a business for MTD
If you have not already been registered for the MTD pilot scheme, there is still time to take action before it is too late.
After obtaining new government gateway identification through Agents Service Account (ASA), you will be registering your clients for MTD. When registering clients, you must categorise your clients and plan dates for their registration so a smooth transition takes place. You can use the following planner to register your clients for MTD:
Quarter ended
Registration start date for MTD via ASA
Registration deadline
First MTD VAT return due date
30 June
14 May
17 July
7 August
31 July
14 June
16 August
7 September
31 August
14 July
13 September
7 October
Monthly return 1 April 2019 to 30 April 2019
14 May
16 May
7 June
DO NOT:
Register client within five days after the filing deadline of a VAT return.
Register client within 15 days before the filing deadline of a VAT return.
What is Making Tax Digital (MTD)?
All UK VAT registered businesses with a turnover of £85,000 must register for MTD for VAT (MTDfV) and maintain digital records for the period commencing 1 April 2019, to file their VAT returns. Few exemptions are available from compliance: HMRC guidance can be followed to check if you are eligible. Some businesses have until 1 October 2019 to implement these changes due to their complicated structure and VAT schemes. VAT Notice 700/22
Your support - MTD Tracker
ACCA has partnered with Bloomsbury Professional Publishing to provide members with free practical guidance on Making Tax Digital (MTD) VAT implementation. This exclusive guidance can be requested from advisory@accaglobal.com
MTD for VAT FAQs
MTD for VAT is now days away and to help you, we have compiled a list of FAQs which should cover most of your initial queries and concerns
MTD Bridging Software
ACCA and QuickBooks have provided bridging software to help you prepare for MTD.
An ‘industry standard’ in relation to professional behaviour in tax matters is now available.
An ‘industry standard’ in relation to professional behaviour in tax matters is now available.
Professional Conduct in Relation to Taxation (PCRT) is a pan-professional document published by seven leading accountancy and tax bodies. As such, it represents an ‘industry standard’ in relation to professional behaviour in tax matters. You must be familiar – and comply with – PCRT.
The latest PCRT has been updated with a new digital structure to make it easier to navigate and is effective from 1 March 2019.
In this updated version the fundamental principles and the standards have not changed. However, the helpsheets have been reviewed and new criteria established for inclusion, namely that they should provide guidance that supports the fundamental principles and standards that underpin professional conduct, rather than providing general or specific commentary about developments in the tax system that could best be addressed through other guidance outside PCRT.
The government is seeking your views on this important change.
The government is seeking your views on this important change.
The consultation on off-payroll working rules highlights the public sector reform that is being extended to the private sector and will apply from 6 April 2020. It is open for comment until 28 May.
The consultation asks for views and information on several subjects, including:
the scope of the reform and impact on non-corporate engagers
information requirements for engagers, fee-payers and personal service companies
addressing status determination disagreements.
At this stage the government has decided ‘that the smallest organisations will not be affected by the reform and will not need to determine the status of the off-payroll workers they engage'. However, that is only regarding operating the rules and requirements. Many small businesses will be impacted if they work with larger businesses.
We may have differing rules for businesses when they work with:
public sector
medium and large businesses
all other businesses.
A small business, incorporated or unincorporated, in the proposal follows the Companies Act definition (see below), tweaked to remove the balance sheet total requirement for unincorporated businesses.
Companies Act definition of ‘qualifying as small’
The qualifying conditions are met by a company in a year in which it satisfies two or more of the following requirements:
1 Annual turnover Not more than £10.2m
2 Balance sheet total Not more than £5.1m
3 Number of employees Not more than 50
The document is clear that ‘the reform requires the fee-payer to operate the rules for tax, NICs, and the Apprenticeship Levy in the same way as for a normal employee’.
Regarding the status of a party supply labour in the supply chain the government are clear that they consider that ‘it is necessary to legislate to ensure that the determination – and the reasons for that determination – are cascaded to all parties within the labour supply chain, to ensure they comply with their obligations’.
Also note that for those supplying medium and large businesses the provisions to address double taxation will continue to follow the public sector tax treatment being:
‘the worker’s PSC is able to set the amount of the deemed payment against the amount of remuneration from the worker’s PSC on which tax liabilities arise. The corporation tax computation should be adjusted so that the worker’s PSC cannot claim a double deduction for the costs associated with the engagement’. And that as ‘with public sector engagements the worker’s PSC will no longer be permitted to deduct a 5% allowance in relation to engagements with medium and large-sized clients'.
We strongly encourage you to look at the proposed changes and comment on them if appropriate. Please do also share your comments with us via email to supportingpractitioners@accaglobal.com (all replies treated in confidence).
Earlier this month (March), HMRC published a press release which highlighted actions taken by HMRC officers for the non-compliance of anti-money laundering provisions. They visited 50 estate agents across England (70% of them were in London) after they were suspected of trading without being registered as required under money laundering regulations. They penalised these estate agents for their failures, and one of the national estate agents, Countrywide Estate Agents, received a fine of £215,000.
Simon York, Director of HMRC’s Fraud Investigation Service, said: ‘Estate agents need to understand that criminals prey on weaknesses, so it’s vital they take all steps to protect themselves. The money laundering regulations are key to that, but there’s still a minority of agents who ignore their legal obligations. These inspections are a wake-up call that if you continue to trade illegally we will come knocking.’
If you advise any business falling within the regulations please highlight the obligations they have to them. As a reminder the basic rules are:
What are money laundering regulations?
The Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 (MLR 2017) came into force on 26 June 2017. They implement the EU's 4th Directive on Money Laundering. Anti-money laundering refers to a set of regulations, laws and procedures designed to stop the practice of generating income through illegal actions.
Obligations for accountants and auditors
If your firm in the UK is controlled by ACCA members (ie at least half of the partners/directors are members of the ACCA and the ACCA partners/directors control at least 51% of the voting rights) or holds an auditing certificate from the ACCA, you/your firm are automatically supervised by ACCA. This means that you do not need to register with any other supervisory body for the money laundering supervision.
ACCA did ask its member practitioners to provide AML information for their practices last year, including the BOOM and TCSP services information. Money laundering procedures are based on the risk assessment of an individual client and business, hence the questionnaire was devised to identify what level of risks are taken by practices and how they are addressed in their due diligence procedures.
What to do
You and your practice must strictly follow the money laundering guidance issued by CCAB for accountants and auditors. You need to make sure that:
you have a strict internal money laundering policy and procedure to adhere to
all staff members have an appropriate level of training on how to handle any suspicious money laundering situations and their reporting requirements
you exercise professional scepticism and judgement at all times
you create and maintain the business’s risk based approach to preventing MLTF
you document the assessment of the operations and effectiveness of the business’s AML systems and controls annually
all money laundering documents are regularly reviewed and updated
you retain all client identification records for at least five years after the end of the client relationship
if you have to make any suspicious activity report (SAR) about any money laundering activity, you know how to do this to National Crime Agency (NCA)
you shall not ‘tip off’ a client that a report has been made. In particular, ceasing to act for a client without giving any plausible explanation might tip off the client that a report has been made. However, any attempts to persuade a client not to proceed with an intended crime will not constitute tipping off.
Useful links
ACCA has specimen AML policies and procedures which can be tailored by practitioners to suit your requirements.
ACCA guidance on money laundering obligations can be found in ACCA Rulebook section B2 Anti-money laundering (page 487).
For any money laundering issues, you may call ACCA technical advisory services on 020 7059 5920 for confidential advice.
Check the appropriate anti-money laundering regulation for your new practice by emailing AML@accaglobal.com
Accountancy service providers are key gatekeepers for the UK’s financial system. As such, they are subject to Anti Money Laundering (AML) regulations and have a significant role to play in ensuring that their expertise and services are not used to further criminal activities.
One of the AML obligations includes identifying suspicious activity and submitting suspicious activity reports (SAR).
Chapter 6 of AML guidance issued by CCAB requires businesses to have internal reporting procedures to enable relevant employees to disclose their knowledge of suspicion of money laundering or terrorist financing (MLTF) to their money laundering reporting officer (MLRO).
The MLRO has a duty to consider all such internal reports and if the MLRO also suspects MLTF, an external SAR must be made to the National Crime Agency (NCA). Only sole practitioners, who employ no relevant employees, have a duty to submit SARs straight to the NCA.
The key elements that require a SAR is: suspicion, crime, proceeds.
Suspicion is a state of mind that falls short of actual evidence-based knowledge but is more than a mere idle wondering.
A SAR is required when there is knowledge or suspicion of money laundering or there are ‘reasonable grounds’ to know or suspect that money laundering activities are taking place.
What is reasonable is an objective test, but it is understood as being the standard behaviour expected of someone with their qualifications, experience and expertise. In other words, relevant employees should exercise professional scepticism and judgementand, if unsure about what to do, they should consult their MLRO or if in doubt, err on the side of caution and report it to the MLRO.
Crime Criminal conduct is behaviour which constitutes a criminal offence in the UK or, if it happened overseas, would have been an offence had it taken place in any part of the UK. Relevant employees are required to identify activities that would result in criminal proceeds. However, an innocent error or mistake would not normally give rise to criminal proceeds.
Proceeds Criminal proceeds can take many forms: proceeds/goods from shoplifting, overpaid invoices, illegal dividends, bribes, proceeds from breaches of overseas laws, concerted price rises, but the most common that the accountant encounters is underpaid tax (corporation tax, income tax, VAT) as a result of over claimed expenses or undeclared sales.
In order for there to be a reportable offence, the person perpetrating the wrongdoing must have knowingly engaged in criminal activity from which he or she is expected to benefit.
Below are extracts taken from the SAR annual report 2018 produced by the NCA which give examples of suspicious activities and the use of SARs:
A subject that has opened multiple current accounts in quick succession and used them to launder funds on behalf of others.
A subject deposited a high amount into their account which they alleged had come from a compensation claim, and proceeded to use the money to purchase a property. SARs reporting this activity gave rise to an investigation, which revealed that the subject had lied about the money’s true origin.
A SAR supplied detailed information on properties owned by the subject and a relative. The SAR highlighted concerns that the subjects were not declaring all their rental income and some of it was being diverted to third parties.
SARs informed that the subject had fraudulently taken out a credit card in another’s name in order to secure funds.
A SAR indicated that an account had received a large international payment which did not match the profile of the customer who was unemployed and in receipt of benefits.
A SAR raised concerns that benefit payments were being paid into an account which held a significant savings balance. An investigation concluded in the defendant receiving a suspended prison sentence for benefit fraud.
A SAR raised concerns that the subject’s personal account was being used for business purposes in order to evade tax.
An investigation into offences of fraud by abuse of position, false accounting and money laundering stemmed from concerns raised by SAR intelligence. The suspicion surrounded large amounts of credits received by accounts belonging to their customer. The combined turnover was well in excess of a normal customer profile. Documents had been falsified and, in an effort to avoid detection and raise less suspicion, the subject had opened numerous accounts with different banks and used each one for a different customer.
Submitting a SAR The simplest way of submitting a SAR is via the NCA's SAR online system. Before submitting a report you are required to register and activate your account. The NCA have issued user guidance to help navigate through their system.
The report can also be submitted on paper but you will not receive any acknowledgment of SAR sent.
The following information should be included (if available):
Full name and other names the subject is known by
If the subject is a legal entity, details such as company registration number, VAT number, business type
Addresses including post codes
Date of birth
The subject's occupation
Additional information, such as phone numbers and passport or driving licence numbers
A brief summary to explain the suspicion and then a chronological sequence of events. It is helpful to keep the content clear, concise and simple: describe the events, activities, and transactions that led to the suspicion and how/ why you became suspicious.
As a basic guide, please address the following six basic questions to make the SAR as useful as possible:
Who?
What?
Where?
When?
Why?
How?
Remember to include:
the date of activity
the type of product or service
how the activity will take place or has taken place when documenting the reason for suspicion.
Further guidance on submitting a SAR can be found here.
If you are considering selling your practice ahead of MTD, what factors should you consider?
If you are considering selling your practice ahead of MTD, what factors should you consider?
There are many signs to indicate that both clients and smaller practices are unprepared for MTD.
At Foulger Underwood we have feedback that only 45% of clients will actually have registered by the required date and the efforts of the accounting firms to explain and bring their clients on board is woefully short of the effort and time that is going to be needed.
Alternatives are limited, even small practices have to invest the time needed to on-board their clients. However, there are still opportunities to sell client banks to larger firms. These firms will have systems and procedures in place thereby relieving the smaller practice of significant investment in time, communications with their clients, training staff, upgrading workflows and cost.
There are very few portfolios that cannot be sold. The value might be depressed if the acquirer has to onboard clients and introduce them to new staff and new systems. Typically, a portfolio of £100k might be sold for between £75k and £110k, with clawback for lost clients post-deal. Alternatively there could be sum certain deals with no clawback; however, in these cases consideration would drop to say £35k to £75k.
These values are also subject to the quality of the clients, opportunities to develop further revenues from them and the commercial pricing of services.
Rural locations with a local client base might be more difficult to sell given there are fewer acquirers. We would look to larger practices with a team of employees who could absorb a small portfolio, without increasing staff numbers and cost.
All staff would transfer under TUPE; however, the age profile of the staff often mirrors that of the selling practitioner and in many cases staff may take this opportunity to leave or retire if faced with a longer commute and a larger firm culture and working environment.
Property issues can be an untimely hurdle. Unexpired lease situations can be costly as the premises are not likely to be retained by the purchaser.
Sellers will also have to hand over their clients and introduce a new client liaison partner. Sometimes this may be a matter of two or three months, but in other sale situations, without staff transferring, the handover might be over a longer period of two years, but latterly in an on-call situation.
These are all workable issues if you wish to exit. The process is a well-trodden road and we would be very happy to discuss opportunities with selling practitioners if they wish to explore exit alternatives.
Keith Underwood – Managing director, Foulger Underwood
A sometimes overlooked loss relief is available to companies where they cease trading and have made losses in the last 12 months.
The normal rules
Without ceasing to trade, if your company makes a loss from trading, the sale or disposal of a capital asset or on property income, then you may be able to claim relief from corporation tax.
You get tax relief by offsetting the loss against your other gains or profits of your business in the same accounting period. You can also choose to carry the loss back, or it will be carried forward to another accounting period.
Terminal loss (TL) rules
The TL rules go much further than the normal rules above. Where a company has stopped trading and it has made a loss in its final 12 months of its trade the relief is extended as the company can carry back any trading losses that occur in the final 12 months of a trade and set them off against profits made in any or all of the three years up to the period when you made the loss.
The small print:
For each year, you can only offset the loss against the profits in that year if your company or organisation was carrying on the same trade at some point in the accounting period or periods that fall in that year.
If the accounting period end date has changed, or any of the earlier accounting periods in that three year period are less than 12 months, then you’ll have to apportion the profit.
Any loss must be offset against the profits of most recent years first, before it can be carried back to earlier years. Losses must be made in the order they’re made, starting with the earliest.
Please follow this link for a detailed example of how the carry back works from HMRC's company taxation manual.
In addition to the above, the TL rules are also extended specifically for losses made since 1 April 2017. In this case the company may be able to claim Terminal Loss Relief for carried forward losses of that trade.
This is designed to give additional relief to companies and organisations that have been prevented from fully relieving profits of the final three years of a trade, due to restrictions on relief for carried forward losses.
The small print:
Terminal relief for carried forward losses of a trade is not subject to the restrictions on amounts that can be relieved using carried forward losses in periods from 1 April 2017.
Losses that can be used are trade losses carried forward to the final accounting period when the trade ceased. These losses can be used to reduce profits:
of the final accounting period
for earlier periods up to three years before the end of the final accounting period
Note that you can only use this relief to reduce profits of the three years ending with the end of the period in which trading stopped. This is not the same as the three year period that applies for losses that occur in the final 12 months of the trade.
Example
If the final accounting period and final 12 months of trade begin on 1 January 2025 and end on 31 December 2025, the three year period for terminal relief for:
losses of the trade incurred in the final 12 months will begin on 1 January 2022 and end on 31 December 2024
carried forward losses of the trade will begin on 1 January 2023 and end on 31 December 2025.
In both cases, if one of the earlier accounting periods falls partly within and partly outside the three year period, then you’ll have to apportion the profit of that accounting period.
You cannot use terminal relief for carried forward losses of a trade to offset profits apportioned outside its particular three year period.
Any loss must first be offset against the profits of most recent years before being carried back to earlier years.
You can only claim this relief to reduce profits of periods from 1 April 2017.
You can only claim relief against profits for periods later than one when the loss you’re using was originally sustained, even if there are earlier periods within that three year period.
This applies to each amount of loss that’s been carried forward to the final period.
You cannot claim this relief to reduce profits for either:
the period in which the loss you’re using was originally sustained
Right elections can minimise the impact of inheritance tax charge and increase family wealth.
Right elections can minimise the impact of inheritance tax charge and increase family wealth.
Inheritance tax (IHT) charges are based on domicile status. Domicile is a common law concept and is not defined in statute for tax purposes. Broadly, it is where an individual has their permanent home or intends to settle permanently. Individuals domiciled in the UK are liable to IHT on their worldwide assets; individuals whose domicile lies outside the UK are only liable to IHT on assets situated in the UK.
Current threshold
All individuals, irrespective of their domicile status, benefit from an IHT nil-rate band, currently £325,000 (since 6 April 2013). Transfers of assets between spouses and between civil partners, whether gifts made during a person's lifetime or transfers of assets occasioned by the death of one of the couple, are generally exempt from IHT. Where the spouse or civil partner to whom the assets are transferred does not have a UK domicile there is a lifetime limit (cap) on the value of the assets that can be transferred free of IHT. The cap is currently equal to the nil-rate band of £325,000.
Domicile election
Individuals domiciled other than in the UK and who are married or in a civil partnership with a UK domiciled person are able to elect to be treated as UK-domiciled for IHT purposes. The main advantage of the election is that they would benefit from uncapped IHT-exempt transfers from their spouse or civil partner. But on the flip side, their overseas assets come under the IHT charge, which could be very disadvantageous if they do not have any intention to come and live in UK and they have higher value of overseas estate.
The election to be treated as domiciled in UK under IHTA 1984 section 267ZA is if condition A or B is met.
Condition A is that:
the person’s spouse or civil partner is domiciled in the United Kingdom at the time the election is made, and
the person is not domiciled in the United Kingdom at that time.
Condition B is that:
the person’s spouse or civil partner died on or after 6 April 2013 and was domiciled in the United Kingdom at the time of death, and
the person was not domiciled in the United Kingdom at that time.
A lifetime or death election is to be made by notice in writing to HMRC and cannot be revoked. A lifetime election takes effect from the day on which it is made. A death election must be made within two years of the death of the spouse or civil partner, and is treated as having taken effect from immediately before any transfer treated as made by section 4 immediately before the death of the spouse or civil partner.
Examining the rules around the lifetime allowance charge.
The lifetime allowance charge (LAC) arises when a person has a pension scheme (or schemes) with a value of more than the lifetime allowance (LA). If there is a LAC then this gives rise to a tax liability which is paid to HMRC.
A person may be a member of a number of pension schemes and the value of them all may need to be taken into account to determine if the LA has been exceeded or not.
When pension benefits, other than state pensions, are drawn (or start to be drawn) there is a ‘benefit crystallisation event’. At that time it is necessary to check the amount of pension funds crystallising or used against the lifetime limit. If the amount is below the lifetime limit then full benefits can be paid with no additional charge. If a previous ‘benefit crystallisation event’ has used part of the lifetime limit then only the remaining percentage of the lifetime allowance for the current year can be applied.
Rates of lifetime allowance tax charge
The charge is paid on any excess over the lifetime allowance limit. The rate depends on how this excess is paid to the member of the pension scheme. It can be paid as a lump sum or taken as ‘a pension’ in the future.
Lump sum rate – 55%
Pension rate – 25%
The standard lifetime allowance in force for each tax year from 2006-07:
2006-07 £1,500,000
2007-08 £1,600,000
2008-09 £1,650,000
2009-10 £1,750,000
2010-11 £1,800,000
2011-12 £1,800,000
2012-13 £1,500,000
2013-14 £1,500,000
2014-15 £1,250,000
2015-16 £1,250,000
2016-17 £1,000,000
2017-18 £1,000,000
2018-19 £1,030,000
Charge when member is 75 years old
Three ‘benefit crystallisation events’ can occur when a member becomes 75 years old; these events will depend on the type or types of pension the individual has at that point. The three possibilities are:
BCE 5 Where a member reaches their 75th birthday under a defined benefit arrangement without having drawn all of their entitlement to a scheme pension and/or lump sum (example 6).
BCE 5A Where a member reaches age 75 with a drawdown pension fund or flexi-access drawdown fund (example 7)
BCE 5B Where a member reaches 75 under a money purchase arrangement in which there are remaining unused funds (example 8).
Drawdown
On commencing drawdown there is a benefit crystallisation event. At that time tax-free cash can be taken up to 25% of the fund (subject to restrictions if previous benefit crystallisation events have occurred and subject to the lifetime limit being exceeded). The amount of the tax-free cash taken together with the amount transferred to the drawdown pension pot is treated as the amount crystallised.
The amount held in the drawdown pension pot will then be used to pay a ‘pension’ each year. However, there is no minimum pension to take each year, so the member can decide to take no income in any tax year if they so wish. The amounts withdrawn, if any, are often referred to as pension income and the pension scheme will deduct tax under PAYE and will be taxed as income of the member.
Advice to share with clients as pension contributions increase.
Advice to share with clients as pension contributions increase.
Research published recently by The Pensions Regulator shows that the vast majority of staff are continuing to save more into their pension following the increases in pensions contributions in April last year.
The on-going duties survey of employers showed less than 2% of staff in medium, small and micro businesses asked to leave their workplace pension as a result of the increase in contributions.
The survey also showed 47% of medium sized businesses are paying at least some or all of their staff more than the minimum employer contribution, with 25% and 22% of small and micro employers respectively paying more than the automatic enrolment minimum.
In April this year, the minimum pensions contributions will increase again from 5% total to 8%. Increasing contributions should be a straightforward task for your clients to do but there are a number of checks they need to make and we encourage them to start in good time. TPR has information alerting employers to what they need to do.
While it’s not a legal duty to tell staff about the increase, we encourage employers to have the information they need about their staff’s workplace pension and how it is changing. Our research shows most employers told their staff about the increases last year and when asked by their workers about workplace pensions, they felt they had the information they needed.
The vast majority of employers are successfully meeting their automatic enrolment duties and it’s now business as usual for them. Automatic enrolment is creating a new savings culture and the increase in contributions is an important part of the policy to boost retirement outcomes.
We know most employers want to do the right thing for their staff and The Pensions Regulator is there to help. However, they will take action if an employer is not meeting their responsibilities. Failing to make and maintain the correct pensions contributions could result in a fine or court action.
It is not enough to just comply with automatic enrolment laws by putting staff into a scheme. Employers must also meet their duties to contribute into their employees’ pensions every month and they must ensure they are paying in at least the minimum. Pension providers have a duty to tell The Pensions Regulator if an employer is not maintaining the correct contrbutions and staff can also use our anonymous whistleblowing service if they are concerned the correct payments are not being made.
Three things for employers to check:
Will their payroll deduct the increases? While many payroll providers may automate their software so contributions are increased automatically, employers should check if their payroll software will do this. Their payroll should be ready to deduct the increased contributions when they rise in April 2019
Is their pension scheme making the changes needed to support the increases? Employers should also check their pension scheme is making necessary changes to support the increases and ensure they are continuing to use a qualifying scheme and the right amount of pension contributions are deducted. If an employer’s chosen pension scheme doesn’t support the increases, then they will need to talk to them about their options.
What are they currently contributing? They may not need to take action Employers and their staff can also choose to pay in more than the minimum contributions if they want to and employers who are already paying above the increased total minimum amounts need not take any further action.
The new loan charge regime effectively starts from 5 April 2019 and relates to loans primarily made between 6/4/1999 and 5/4/2019. HMRC have made it clear that they consider that it is essential that anybody affected acts now as contacting HMRC before that date to arrange a settlement may well prove beneficial.
Without a request for a settlement, the loan charge rules will apply from that date. These are very complicated and - depending on which type of scheme is operated – may involve the following:
The need for employees to declare to their employer that they have a relevant loan
The need for employers to include the loan in their normal PAYE submissions and deduct this from the employee
The charge might need to be included in the individual's self-assessment return
The charge might affect an individual’s income related benefits
At the end of this article there are links to more detailed guidance from HMRC.
What is disguised remuneration?
A disguised remuneration ‘scheme’ involves paying staff via loans instead of normal taxed salaries. As the loans are never intended to be paid back, this is designed to avoid paying Income Tax and National Insurance contributions on that income.
In the past this type of arrangement made the headlines involving famous celebrities and footballers. However, these days similar schemes are being advertised more generally, often the main tag line being ‘tax efficiency’ or ‘retain 80-90% of your pay’. Some of them are through umbrella companies, which also appears to add some legitimacy to the process.
The legislation covers two main schemes:
Employment based schemes
Self employed schemes (trade based schemes)
How do the schemes work?
Naturally the exact details of each process will vary but they do generally have a common theme. HMRC give the following example of a typical scheme:
You receive a small payment which has tax and National Insurance contributions deducted.
At the same time (or shortly after) you receive a larger payment without tax and National Insurance contributions deducted.
The larger payment may arrive from a different account than the first payment, potentially from overseas, although not necessarily.
Your payslip may show the larger payment separately and refer to it as something other than pay. No tax or National Insurance contributions have been deducted.
How can I tell if I am being paid through a scheme?
Obviously any type of remuneration which does not take the normal forms might be suspect. HMRC has published the following red flags:
the company promises that you can keep 80, 90 or 95% of your wages and be tax compliant (this is unlikely to be true as, in most cases, the basic rate of Income Tax is 20% and National Insurance contributions are also due on earnings)
only a fraction of your salary is paid through payroll and subject to PAYE (indicating that you are only paying tax on some of your income)
you are paid using a loan, credit or investment payment and the company claims this isn’t subject to income tax or National Insurance contributions (this is tax avoidance)
the payment from your umbrella company is routed through various companies before it comes to you.
These companies may tell you they are compliant with tax rules but you shouldn’t rely on this. These companies do not always explain the risks of using these schemes or try to hide the fact they involve tax avoidance.
What are the tax consequences of using this type of scheme?
The loan charge was announced at the Budget 2016 and the charge will apply to disguised remuneration loans that are outstanding on 5 April 2019.
Prior to this, the options available are:
People who have used these schemes have a choice – they can:
repay the original loan
agree a settlement with HMRC
pay the loan charge when it comes in to force.
Settling now will give you certainty about your disguised remuneration scheme and may also mean you:
do not have to pay the loan charge that comes into effect on 5 April 2019
pay a lower rate of tax on your disguised remuneration loans - the loan charge will add all your loans together and tax them in one year
settle on better terms - if a scheme moves to litigation, these terms may no longer be available
do not face extra costs if the scheme moves to litigation.
Note that if you want to settle your use of a disguised remuneration tax avoidance scheme so that you do not have to pay the loan charge, you should contact HMRC and send all the information needed as quickly as possible, and by 5 April 2019 at the latest.
How is the charge paid?
Please refer to the detailed guidance links at the end of this article.
What are the relevant dates I should know about?
Month
Date
Action
April 2019
5/4/2019
Take action by 5/4/2019 to avoid the loan charge
6/4/2019
Loan charge reporting requirements commence
15/4/2019
Employee must provide UK employer with outstanding loan details
19/4/2019
Deadline for postal RTI payment
22/4/2019
Deadline for online RTI payment
July 2019
4/7/2019
If employer is liable to PAYE, employee must reimburse PAYE to avoid section 222
September 2019
30/9/2019
Deadline for individuals to fulfil reporting requirements to HMRC
October 2019
5/10/2019
Deadlines for individuals to register for ITSA
January 2020
31/1/2020
Deadline for 2018/19 self assessment return
How should we contact HMRC to discuss a settlement?
Your chance to input into a consultation on this crucial area.
Your chance to input into a consultation on this crucial area.
The Enterprise Act introduced a series of measures designed to strengthen the UK competition framework, transform the approach to bankruptcy and corporate rescue and empower consumers. Part of this was that HMRC’s preferential status was removed.
The consultation Protecting your taxes in insolvency is open until 27 May and sets out the government intention to introduce legislation in the Finance Bill to make HMRC a secondary preferential creditor for certain tax debts paid by employees and customers on the insolvency of a business. It includes deductions made under PAYE (including student loan repayments), NIC (employee contributions only), CIS and VAT that have been deducted and are due to HMRC at the commencement of the insolvency.
The consultation states that for ‘all formal insolvencies that commence after 6 April 2020, HMRC will move up the creditor hierarchy for the distribution of assets’ and ‘will become a secondary preferential creditor for the specific taxes paid to a business by employees and customers, and any interest or penalties arising from such debts’ in England, Wales and Scotland.
It is then stated that this ‘means HMRC will move ahead of holders of floating charges (mainly financial institutions) and other non-preferential unsecured creditors, but remain below holders of fixed charges (also primarily financial institutions) and higher-ranking preferential creditors'.
A concern will be how the finance industry reacts to the proposed changes and if it increases the use of personal guarantees and fixed charges ahead of floating charges.
VAT Notice 701/49: Finance has been updated and highlights where some HP agreements may be reclassified meaning each that installment is taxable.
It states that ‘Some Personal Contract Purchase (PCP) or similar contracts may be described as HP. If they contain a contractually optional payment exercisable at the end of the contract, which at the outset of the contract is set at or above the anticipated open market value of the asset at the time, the option will be exercised.
They are treated as a supply of leasing services. There is therefore no supply of credit and the full value of each installment is taxable - even if part of the fee is shown as credit in the agreement.’
The Stamp Duty Land Tax: non-UK resident surcharge consultation is open for comment until 6 May.
The Stamp Duty Land Tax: non-UK resident surcharge consultation is open for comment until 6 May.
It introduces the concept of a SDLT surcharge for non-UK resident individuals and certain non-natural persons purchasing residential properties in England and Northern Ireland. The consultation mentions a 1% surcharge on each of the bands.
In the consultation, it’s highlighted that the existing Statutory Residence Test (SRT) is ‘a complex piece of legislation, involving several interconnected tests which consider closeness of connection to the UK as well as periods of time spent in and out of the UK’ and proposes a simple test for SDLT.
The proposed simple test would also be used when considering available reliefs. For example, a refund of the surcharge being available where ‘an individual who has been subject to the surcharge spends 183 days or more in the UK in the 12 months following day of transaction'.
The consultation is clear that the surcharge is an addition to the existing rules. For example, non-UK residents who meet the criteria for first time buyers’ relief (FTBR) will pay the surcharge at 1% on the chargeable consideration between £0 - £300,000 and 6% (5% + the 1% surcharge) on any portion between £300,000 - £500,000.
View the full consultation containing proposals that may be within the next Finance Bill.
Changes are being considered to help avoid company collapses in the future – are they properly targeted?
Key changes are being considered to help avoid company collapses in the future – but are they properly targeted?
Given the fundamental importance of going concern in a set of financial statements and the findings arising from a number of the FRC’s enforcement cases, the FRC believes it is in the public interest to now propose revisions to this standard with the view to driving necessary improvements in audit quality. FRC recently released a draft exposure draft of a revised ISA (UK) 570.
The key issues addressed in the draft are:
fostering an appropriately independent and challenging mindset of the auditor
transparency – to provide investors and other stakeholders
enhancing documentation of the auditor’s judgements
keeping ISAs (UK) fit for purpose
reinforcing the need for robust communication and interactions during the audit.
Major changes resulting from the above:
Sufficiency of audit evidence
In other ISAs (UK) the auditor is required to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence. The existing ISA (UK) 570 only requires sufficient appropriate audit evidence to be obtained on the appropriateness of management's use of the going concern basis of accounting, but not in respect to other important aspects of going concern, including whether a material uncertainty exists related to going concern. Therefore the draft contains more robust requirements regarding the nature and extent of procedures that the auditor should perform to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence about management's use of the going concern basis of accounting being appropriate (see ED ISA (UK) 570 paragraphs 12-1 and 12-2).
Enhancing auditor reporting
The draft contains a new requirement for the auditor’s report to include various statements relating to the work carried out on management's assessment of the entity's ability to continue as a going concern. The observations would include:
a conclusion that management's use of the going concern basis of accounting is appropriate; and
where no material uncertainty has been identified, a statement that the auditor has not identified a material uncertainty related to going concern.
Do you want to stand out from the crowd, motivate your employees and generate great publicity?
Do you want to stand out from the crowd, motivate your employees and generate great publicity?
This year the organisers of the Accounting Excellence Awards have built out their prestigious awards roster and there are now 14 awards waiting to be won!
Judged by leading practitioners, advisers and business owners, entering the awards is a fantastic opportunity to confirm and celebrate the support you’re giving clients, and the great contributions you’re making to the profession. It also gives you the chance to shout about your firm’s unique qualities and your outstanding achievements.
What better way to do this than alongside the best in the profession at the awards night on 12 September, which will be returning to the fabulous Brewery in London.
Enter the awards today, enjoy the recognition you thoroughly deserve and have a night to remember!
Do you need to exchange sensitive and confidential information with clients?
Do you need to exchange sensitive and confidential information with clients?
Thanks to our Memorandum of Understanding with IRIS Software Group, you can create an IRIS OpenSpace account with 1GB of free storage, enabling you to securely upload, store and approve documents.
The offer comes as practices grapple with GDPR processes while looking to improve collaboration and communication with clients. IRIS OpenSpace allows you to securely share a draft set of accounts, a tax return or a financial statement with your client, and clients can send bank statements, payslips and electronically approve documents.
In the event the UK leaves the EU without a deal, UK businesses, importing or exporting goods with the EU, will need to take key steps to continue trading with EU businesses.
Preparing for a no deal EU exit
This live webinar provides an overview for UK businesses involved in the movement of goods between the EU and the UK. Find out what you need to know to keep imports and exports up to speed including:
why it’s important to apply for an Economic Operator Registration and Identification number (EORI)
Watch our new webinars highlighting how MTD will impact on four key SME areas.
In partnership with Barclays, ACCA has created a series of bite-size 30 minute webinars that explore how Making Tax Digital (MTD) will impact on four sectors:
manufacturing
retail
professionals
hospitality.
These webinars provide an overview of the impact of MTD on SMEs in each of these sectors and highlight to practitioners the issues that their SME clients in those sectors will face. Each webinar is introduced by Andy Simpson (head of specialist client solutions, Barclays Business Banking) before Jason Piper (senior manager – tax and business law, ACCA) takes over to go through the practical aspects of getting ready for MTD.
An invitation to join us at Accountex 2019, continue to benefit from special offers from Xero and their app partners and view our practical guide to apprenticeships.
We’re excited to be returning to Accountex at London’s ExCel on 1-2 MAY 2019. Our ever-popular lecture theatre is growing in size and we’ve got some exciting plans for our stand. Register for your FREE ticket here for what always proves to be one of the highlights of the accounting year.
App partners - special offers for ACCA members
Our members continue to benefit from a number of special offers provided by the app partners who joined Xero in attend our ‘future proof your practice’ roadshows last autumn. Check out these offers now:
Practice Ignition is offering your first two months free. Simply get ten proposals signed within your first two months and they won’t bill you a penny for this period. Sign up today and contact alice@practiceignition.com who will apply the ACCA Exclusive code for you
Float will give every ACCA accountant who signs up for Float a free account for their practice and 20% off their first three months' subscription to Float’s partner programme. Visit https://try.floatapp.com/acca-offer/
Xero will give any ACCA accountant that signs up its partner programme 50% off Xero for three months on their first five Business Edition subscriptions – valid until 30 June 2019. Sign up to the partner programme at www.xero.com/partners and when you're signed up, add clients using the promo code ACCAXERO.
Demonstrate your excellence in Xero
Does your practice use Xero? Thanks to the Memorandum of Understanding we signed with Xero in August, your firm can now benefit from free access to Xero Advisor Certification. Completing the Xero Certification Equivalency Course is a great step towards gaining an extremely solid understanding of all things cloud accounting and of Xero. It’s also great for employability because demand for these skills has never been greater, both at bookkeeping and accounting practices and at more than 300,000 subscribers across the UK. Access this benefit now (use promo code ACCAX12m).
ACCA’s practical guide to apprenticeships
From funding and contracts to off-the-job training and further study, this is what you need to know about apprenticeships. They represent a highly cost-effective way for you to recruit and develop ambitious new talent to help you realise your business ambitions. Apprenticeships also have the added benefits of being able to offer high quality training, on-the-job experience and local employment opportunities. Apprenticeships can be complex so we have developed this guide that includes all the practicalities you need to consider if you are interested in taking advantage of the government’s funding to grow your own talent.
Flag It Up
The government’s Flag It Up website has lots of helpful practical guidance on anti-money laundering, including a video aimed at accountants. Learn more now
Register now for any of our five free webinars (each worth 1 CPD unit).
It's not too late to watch any of our 'end of tax year' series of free webinars!
The series covers:
Key changes to entrepreneurs' relief Available on demand
Speaker: Dr Ros Martin, consultant and lecturer
Making Tax DigitalAvailable on demand
Speaker: Dean Wootten, Wootten Consultants Limited
Audits of charities and independent examinations updateAvailable on demand
Speaker: Don Bawtree, Business Assurance Partner, BDO
Risk and mitigation for the accountant – some key lessons from 2018Available on demand
Speaker: Louise Dunford, LD Consultancy Limited
Inheritance tax planning Available on demand
Speaker: Paul Soper FCCA, tax lecturer and consultant
Register for any or all of these webinars now. Each webinar counts for one unit of verifiable CPD where it is relevant to the work that you do.
We also hosted a webinar to help you Avoid the pitfalls on SRA reporting, covering the SRA's future policy reforms, new accounts rules (including guidance and implementation), key client money risks that are a priority (such as banking facilities, investment fraud), and quality of accountant's reports.
Have you considered giving something back to the profession? We are recruiting members to sit on our regulatory and disciplinary committees.
Have you considered giving something back to the profession? We are recruiting members to sit on our regulatory and disciplinary committees.
A professional body exists to support its members and ensure they are respected and trusted. Integral to that trust is a robust regulatory process that includes independent adjudication. So when ACCA receives a complaint against a member, or a member or firm is considered to have fallen short of the required standard, the regulatory processes that ensue are of the utmost importance.
ACCA investigates complaints, monitors the performance of practising firms and, where appropriate, arranges for hearings to take place. But regulatory decisions and findings must be made independently of the ACCA executive – by regulatory and disciplinary committees. For example, decisions to restrict members’ authorisation to practise are made by an Admissions and Licensing Committee; findings of misconduct are made by a Disciplinary Committee.
Committees are drawn from a panel; panel members are also eligible to sit on the Appeal Committee, Health Committee and Interim Orders Committee. Committees must comprise at least three people, and require a lay majority (ie at least two members of the committee are non-accountants). But an accountant is also required to sit on the committee to provide relevant expertise. In certain cases, expertise in a particular area of practice (such as audit) is needed.
Of course, ACCA must ensure it has the right people on the panel at any point in time. This is the responsibility of ACCA’s Appointments Board – a board of independent decision-makers (all lay people) that has the power to appoint and remove panel members and that appraises their performance. Each panel member is initially on a contract of up to five years (which may be renewed up to a total of 10 years).
Required qualities
Committee members come from a variety of backgrounds, and those who are accountants work in various different sectors. But they share a commitment to maintaining professional standards and understand what it means to make regulatory decisions in the public interest. All panel members are bound by a code of conduct, which makes clear the importance of principles such as integrity and objectivity.
Panel members eligible to sit on ACCA committees are expected to do so approximately 12 to 15 times a year – sufficient to maintain competence but not so frequently that it interferes with other responsibilities. They are also expected to attend occasional meetings and training sessions.
The rewards
Fees and expenses are paid for attending hearings and meetings. In addition, committee members say they gain a great deal from the role. ‘To judge on people’s future careers is no small responsibility,’ says one panel member. ‘We have to make a judgement in the best interests of the profession while giving due regard to the public interest. This is what I have enjoyed the most – a sense of real ownership and responsibility in promoting fairness.’
Opportunities coming up
In April, ACCA will embark on a recruitment exercise, which will include a number of committee chairmen and accountant committee members. Find out more now. You can also browse information on our website about committees and hearings.
Tamara Etzmuss-Noble – operations manager, ACCA’s Standards department
ACCA's Professional Courses provide the widest range of CPD events tailored to the needs of practitioners.
All Professional Courses events are open to both ACCA members and non-members. Please feel free to share details of the events below with your colleagues.
