The chairman of the Treasury Select Committee, Rt Hon. Andrew Tyrie MP, recently wrote to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rt Hon. Philip Hammond MP, to inform him that the Committee disagrees with his predecessor’s decision not to consent to a recommendation that the Committee be given the right of veto over the appointment and dismissal of the Officer for Tax Simplification’s Chair and Tax Director.

In order to be successful, the Committee says the OTS must be in a position to provide the Government with robust, dispassionate and…

Legislation included in Finance Bill 2016 implements the new 0% rate for dividend income, as well as changing the rates of tax for dividend income. Once enacted, the changes will apply from 6 April 2016. Broadly, the new nil rate applies to the first £5,000 of a person’s dividend income and is available annually. From 6 April 2016, UK residents pay tax on any dividends received over the £5,000 allowance at the following rates:

7.5% on dividend income within the basic rate band;

32.5% on dividend income within the higher…

Q1. I have five employees who I recently took out for dinner to celebrate the success of the company. The total cost of the meal was £225. Do I have to report this as a benefit-in-kind to HMRC?

A: Finance Bill 2016 legislates for a new tax exemption relating to trivial benefits, which broadly means that if the cost of providing the benefit does not exceed £50 per employee, you will not have to account for it to HMRC, and the employees will not have to pay tax and…

HMRC have published Spotlight 31: change of date for withdrawal of transitional relief on investment growth, which covers the extension of the date of withdrawal of transitional relief currently available under FA 2011, Sch. 2, para. 59 from 30 November 2016 to 31 March 2017.

The withdrawal of the relief was announced at the 2016 Budget, as part of the package of changes totackle the use of disguised remuneration avoidance schemes (such as Employee Benefit Trusts (EBTs) and contractor loans) and ensure that those who have used these…

The National Audit Office has published a report on the 2015-16 accounts of HMRC.The report shows that HMRC raised £536.8bn of tax revenues during 2015-16, an increase of £19.1bn (3.7%) on 2014-15 and paid out £40bn in benefits and credits (approximately one-fifth of the government’s total benefit expenditure). The taxes that contributed to most of this increase were income tax and National Insurance Contributions (NICs), which together increased by £10.3bn (3.8%); corporation tax, which increased by £4.1bn (9.9%); and VAT, which increased by £2.1bn (1.8%). Capital gains tax…