Emergency Budget Date Announced

The Treasury has confirmed that newly appointed Chancellor George Osborne will present his emergency Budget on Tuesday 22 June, less than six weeks after taking power.

The new Chancellor made the announcement in his first Treasury press conference, in which he also confirmed another Conservative manifesto commitment to create an Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR).

Moving quickly, Osborne said the OBR would be an independent entity like the Monetary Policy Committee that would be responsible for developing “a truly independent assessment of the state of the nation’s finances”. The OBR will be set up initially on a non-statutory basis and be headed by economist Sir Alan Budd. Along with Geoffrey Dicks and Graham Parker he will form a Budget Responsibility Committee and get to work on the forecasts immediately.

The OBR will be put on a statutory footing in next week’s Queen’s speech. For each subsequent Budget and Pre-Budget Report the OBR will confirm whether the government’s policy has a better than 50% chance of achieving its objectives.

Explaining his reasons for the move, Osborne said: “Over the last 13 years the public and the markets have completely lost confidence in government economic forecasts. The last government’s forecasts for growth in the economy, over the past ten years, have on average been out by £13bn. Their forecasts of the budget deficit three years ahead have on average been out by £40bn.”

Previous Chancellors rather than independent officials were responsible for the forecasts and fell victim to the temptation to “fiddle the figures “ by nudging up growth forecasts and reducing borrowing figures to get the numbers to add up, he argued. The government would still set overall fiscal goals and tax and spending policies, but to rebuild public trust , independent forecasts will become the norm, he added.

“I am the first Chancellor to remove the temptation to fiddle the figures by giving up control over the economic and fiscal forecast. I recognise that this will create a rod for my back down the line, and for the backs of future chancellors. That is the whole point. We need to fix the budget to fit the figures, not fix the figures to fit the budget.”

With the £160bn+ deficit uppermost in his mind, Osborne said Treasury assessments confirmed it would be feasible to put £6bn of reductions in place for this year without damaging frontline services. Departmental secretaries ahve been told to resubmit all their pilot schemes and spending plans approved since 1 January to the Treasury. Those that give good value for money and fit the government’s priorities will go ahead, but no more money will be wasted on those that do not.

The emergency Budget will set out the fiscal path and will contain measures to boost enterprise, create a fairer tax system, and demonstrate to the world that Britain is open for business, he added.

The actual content of the 2010 Budget Mark Two will provide plenty of scope for speculation and interpretation among accountants. Last week, Simon Sweetman put forward the following contenders:

• VAT will go up to 20% - it’s fast and would raise lots of money. At the Treasury press conference, prime minister David Cameron said it was “not something we plan to do” but added that taxpayers would have to “wait for the first Budget” to find out if it would happen.
• The main rate of CT will be cut (possibly with the abolition of the small companies’ rate and of the annual investment allowance to pay for it).
• Increase in the rate of CGT on non-business assets - possibly from the day of the Budget. Tax Editor Rebecca Benneyworth anticipates the change due to concerns about the current 32% differential between CGT and the new 50% upper band for income tax, which makes it tempting for high earners to shift their income into capital.
• Employees’ NIC will go up, but not employers’ NIC.
• The personal income tax allowance will increase in the general direction of £10,000.
• The increase in the IHT nil-rate band won’t happen.

The leftovers hanging around from Alistair Darling’s 23 March Budget include the dealing with agents – deliberate wrongdoing legislation. Consultation was extended on the draft clauses until 28 April. The new government has shown itself to be sympathetic to the profession’s concerns. But even with two former PwC employees on the Treasury team, there has been no word yet what view they have taken on this.

While the Tories have fulfilled their pre-election promise to create the OBR, there is no news yet about the planned Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) and its review of small company taxation and IR35. Osborne said he would provide a further update on his activities in a speech to the CBI on Wednesday, or perhaps the OTS might be a surprise he’s saving for the accounting community until 22 June.

As far as symbols go, Osborne has reverted to the more traditional choice of a Tuesday to present his statement, after Gordon Brown opted for Wednesdays early in his period as Chancellor.

From AccountingWeb

HM Revenue & Customs re-organisation of Corporation Tax work

This is a message for Corporation Tax customers in Bristol, Devon, Oxon and Bucks, Cornwall, Somerset, W Lancs and Worcester.

HM Revenue & Customs are currently re-organising the way we handle Corporation Tax work in our local offices.

During September the Corporation Tax records of companies and organisations currently dealt with by their offices in Bristol, Exeter, Milton Keynes, Plymouth, Taunton, Warrington and Worcester (that is those companies with reference numbers prefixed by 036, 071, 402, 474, 705,750 and 792) will transfer to:

HM Revenue & Customs Local Compliance
Corporation Tax Operations
Government Buildings
Castle Street
Merthyr Tydfil
CF47 8AA

Tel: 01685 353848 – please do not use this number for any other enquiries

You will shortly receive a note on form CT 210 confirming these details.

You may receive notification of this change even if your company or organisation is dormant. This is because HM Revenue & Customs want you to know which office to contact should your circumstances change.

HM Revenue & Customs re-organisation of Corporation Tax work

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is currently reorganising the way it handles Corporation Tax work in local offices.

During July the Corporation Tax records of companies and organisations currently dealt with by the office in Liverpool (That is those records prefixed by 423) will transfer to:

HMRC Local Compliance
CT Operations
Blackburn House
Hanley
Stoke-on-Trent
Staffordshire
ST1 3BS

Telephone: 01782 683318 – Please do not use this number for any other queries.

You will shortly receive a note on form CT 210 confirming these details.

You may receive notification of this change even if your company or organisation is currently dormant. This is because HMRC want you to know which office to contact should your circumstances change.

HM Revenue & Customs re-organisation of Corporation Tax work

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is currently reorganising the way it handles Corporation Tax work in local offices.

During July the Corporation Tax records of companies and organisations currently dealt with by offices in Wrexham and Swansea (that is those reference numbers prefixed by 793 and 700) will transfer to:

HM Revenue and Customs
Local Compliance
CT Operations South Wales
Ty Glas
Llanishen
Cardiff
CF14 5FP

Telephone: 02920 325003 – please do not use this number for any other queries.

You will shortly receive a note on form CT 210 confirming these details.

You may receive notification of this change even if your company or organisation is currently dormant. This is because HMRC want you to know which office to contact should your circumstances change.

Budget 2009

The Chancellor of the Exchequer presented his 2009 Budget to Parliament on Wednesday 22 April. From this page you can find all of the key points.

Summaries of the main announcements which affect HMRC`s customers are outlined below.

Main announcements affecting HMRC customers

• Budget 2009 - Personal Tax and Individuals
• Budget 2009 - Tax Relief on Pension Contributions
• Budget 2009 - Business Payment Support Service
• Budget 2009 - Business Tax - Corporate and Self Employed
• Budget 2009 - Compliance Proposals
• Budget 2009 - Review of Powers
• Budget 2009 - VAT Changes
• Budget 2009 - Excise Duties
• Budget 2009 - Stamp Duty Land Tax

For further information regarding the budget or any of Davenport’s services, please complete the simple form below and one of our team will be in contact with you shortly.

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Change of HMRC Bank Account Details From 6 April 2009

From 6 April 2009 some of HM Revenue & Customs’ (HMRC) bank account details will be changing. You will need these new account details when making a payment to HMRC.

The changes will take place over a period of time starting with the following areas:

• Self Assessment
• Tax credit repayments
• Corporation Tax
• PAYE and Class 1 National Insurance contributions
• Class 1A National Insurance contributions
• PAYE Settlement Agreements payments
• Pension scheme payments
• Stamp Duty Land Tax
• Petroleum Revenue Tax
• HMRC penalties and other miscellaneous payments

If you pay by BACS Direct Credit, Internet, telephone banking or CHAPS

HMRC is now using the bank Citi for these types of electronic payments. You can find the new bank account numbers and sort codes by referring to the papers sent to you by HMRC or in the relevant guide in the ‘Paying HMRC’ section of this website - follow the link at the end of the page.

Individual banks and building societies will start accepting the new account details on or shortly after the 6 April 2009. If there is a delay your bank/building society will be able to advise you. You can continue to make payments using the old details until your bank is ready to accept the new ones.

Once your bank/building society is ready to accept HMRC’s new account details you should arrange to update any templates or transactions that you have stored for online banking purposes.

Payments using a payslip by Bank Giro or at the Post Office

HMRC will be using NatWest and Alliance & Leicester to process payments made by Bank Giro and at the Post Office. In time each payslip will show the new HMRC bank account details. You do not need to take any action because payments made using both old and new HMRC bank account details will continue to be accepted.

Note that the new bank account details differ from those used for paying by BACS, Internet, Telephone and CHAPS.

Planned changes for other payment types

HMRC will provide more information in due course as the new bank account changes take place in HMRC for other types of payment (for example VAT, Class 2 & 3 National Insurance Contributions).

Bumper April Package to Help Businesses

A bumper package of measures to increase consistency and streamline how business, agents and other customers work with HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) will be introduced in April.

From 1 April 2009:

• HMRC will have one set of powers and safeguards covering PAYE, VAT, Income Tax, Capital Gains Tax and Corporation Tax. This means there will be less confusion for customers because the same rules will be applied, no matter which tax position we are checking.
• a new two-tier system of tax tribunals comes into effect - a ‘first-tier tribunal’ and an ‘upper tribunal’. General Commissioners, Special Commissioners and the VAT & Duties Tribunal will no longer exist.
• changes to simplify the entry and leaving rules for small businesses using the VAT flat rate scheme will take effect.

From 6 April 2009:

• employers with 50 or more employers will have to file their employee starter and leaver notifications and similar pensions notifications online.
• a new A4 version of the P45 form will replace the old style A5 form.
• changes to form P46 (Car), used for reporting the private use of cars supplied by employers, will be implemented.

Dave Hartnett, HMRC Permanent Secretary for Tax, said:

“These are important measures which will make it easier for businesses and their advisers to meet their obligations whilst making it easier to work with us and to get decisions on points of law. These initiatives will provide businesses with more consistency, certainty and faster on-line processing of key documents”.

HMRC Re-organisation of Corporation Tax Work

HM Revenue & Customs are currently re-organising the way they handle Corporation Tax work in their local offices in Central Yorkshire, North West Midlands, Midlands West and Manchester.

During February the Corporation Tax records of companies and organisations currently dealt with by our offices in Leeds, Wolverhampton, Brierley Hill and Manchester (that is those reference numbers prefixed by 388, 778, 693 and 421) will transfer to:

HM Revenue & Customs Local Compliance
Corporation Tax Operations
Blackburn House
Hanley
Stoke-on-Trent
Staffordshire
ST1 3BS

Telephone: 01782 683318

You will shortly receive a note on form CT210 confirming these details from HMRC.

Accountancy Request

1. Your Name(required)
2. Post Code
3. Contact Number(required)
4. Email(valid email required)
5. I Need...
6. Help!
   A Change of Accountant
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Get Ready for New Compliance Checks Regime

Businesses need to get ready for the new aligned compliance checks framework that comes into effect next month, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) warned today.

With new information and inspection powers, record keeping requirements, time limits for tax assessments and claims and the accompanying safeguards, businesses need to make sure that they know what this will mean for them.

From 1 April 2009, HMRC will have one set of powers and safeguards covering PAYE, VAT, Income Tax, Capital Gains Tax, Corporation Tax and the Construction Industry Scheme. There will also be safeguards in place to ensure that the powers are used appropriately.

HMRC’s Dave Hartnett said:

“This new approach to compliance checks will improve HMRC’s ability to ensure that the right tax is paid at the right time. We have consulted with taxpayers and their agents to make very sure that HMRC achieves the right balance between obtaining the information we need and appropriate use of our powers.”

To ensure you remain compliant, why contact us to see how Davenports can help, simply complete the quick form below and one of our team will get back in touch shortly.

Accountancy Request

1. Your Name(required)
2. Post Code
3. Contact Number(required)
4. Email(valid email required)
5. I Need...
6. Help!
   A Change of Accountant
   Assistance starting up
   Help with the Payroll
   Help with Tax, CIS or VAT
   Help with getting money from my clients
7. Any other comments
8. To receive your FREE key fob, tick this box
9. Verification

 

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ZH Commodities Limited Testimonial

Nick Archibold - Director - London

Davenports have been extremely proactive towards helping me with our accounts & tax returns. I will be switching other business towards them within the next few weeks.

http://www.zhcommodities.com

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