HMRC’s latest schedule of live and recorded webinars for tax agents is available for booking. Spaces are limited, so take a look now and save your place. Are you interested in how HMRC uses the Litigation Settlement Strategy to try and resolve tax disputes through civil law? HMRC is holding a webinar next week on Friday 23 February which will look at the key principles of this strategy. Bookings for this particular webinar can be made now. A webinar is also being held tomorrow, Tuesday 13 February, on the National Minimum Wage; bookings can be made here. 

Do you use HMRC online services? Don’t be caught out by the planned downtime to some services. HMRC are warning about the non-availability of specific services on the HMRC website, a range of services are impacted. Check the relevant page for information on planned downtime.  

Check out the latest items on the Agent Forum. Remember, in order to view each item, you must be signed up and logged in.  All agents, who are a member of a professional body, are invited to join HMRC’s Agent Forum. This dedicated Agent Forum is hosted in a private area within the HMRC’s Online Taxpayer Forum. You can interact with other agents and HMRC experts to discuss topical issues and processes. 

The Council of the European Union has published the draft Joint Employment Report 2024. This joint report by the European Commission and the Council reviews the employment situation across Member States. It provides an overview of key developments in employment across the Union and identifies key areas for policy action.

BEPS Action 5 is the international standard for addressing harmful tax practices. At the October meeting of the OECD’s Forum on Harmful Tax Practices, the group was informed that the regimes in Hong Kong and the UAE are not harmful and that two regimes in Albania and Armenia have been abolished. As of February 2024, 123 harmful regimes have been abolished with a further 12 in the process of elimination/amendment.

In Irish news, the Minister for Finance reduces the interest rate on liabilities in the Debt Warehousing Scheme to 0 percent and PAYE taxpayers can claim the 2023 Mortgage Interest Tax Credit via MyAccount. In UK news, this week’s miscellaneous updates confirms the date for removal of the functionality to copy existing VAT clients across to the Agent Services Account is 16 February 2024 and read about further changes for agents when contacting HMRC about self-assessment or PAYE queries. In International news, the European Commission allows businesses affected by CBAM reporting difficulties to request to file late without facing penalties. Ireland Debt Warehousing Scheme: zero percent interest rate to apply. PAYE taxpayers can claim the 2023 Mortgage Interest Tax Credit via MyAccount. UK Read this week’s miscellaneous updates which confirm that the date for removal of the functionality to copy existing VAT clients across to the Agent Services Account is 16 February 2024. HMRC has announced further changes to the contact route which agents should use when making contact about Self-Assessment or PAYE queries. International The European Commission allows businesses affected by CBAM reporting difficulties to request to file late without facing penalties. Keep up to date with all the latest Irish, UK, and international tax developments through Chartered Accountants Ireland’s Tax Newsletter. Subscribe to the Tax News by updating your preferences in MyAccount. You can also read this week’s EU exit corner here.

The OECD has recently published the first aggregated statistics from the FTA (Forum on Tax Administration) ICAP (International Compliance Assurance Program); a multilateral risk assessment of an MNE group’s key international tax risks. The statistics cover all cases completed to October 2023 and look at the relationship between ICAP and other tools for aiding tax certainty, including APAs (Advanced Pricing Arrangements) and MAPs (Mutual Agreement Procedures).

The European Commission is aware that businesses may have encountered difficulties submitting their quarterly CBAM (Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism) reports. As a result, it is offering a new option for affected businesses to “request delayed submission”. No penalties will be imposed on declarants who have experienced difficulties.

On 1 February, local authorities published annual draft Residential Zoned Land Tax (RZLT) maps as part of the current mapping process. Landowners have until 1 April 2024 to make submissions on whether their land meets the relevant criteria for inclusions as residential zoned and serviced land. 31 May 2024 is the date by which landowners can request a re-zoning of their land. The annual final map will be published on 31 January 2025 providing the basis for the 2025 RZLT liability date.  Speaking following the annual draft residential zoned land tax map publication, Minister McGrath said:  “I welcome the publication of the annual draft residential zoned land tax maps. This is an important step in the RZLT implementation process whereby land within scope of the tax has been identified by local authorities. Landowners whose land is included on the annual draft map should now review the map and consider if their land meets the criteria for inclusion. Residential properties, while they might be on the map, are not liable for the tax if they are subject to LPT.  Landowners also have an opportunity to make submissions to vary the zoning status of their land. The annual final map will be published on 31 January 2025; the maps will continue to be revised on an annual basis going forward.  Ireland requires increased housing supply to meet our housing needs. The RZLT aims to incentivise landowners to activate existing planning permissions and carry out development for housing on identified lands."  Further commentary is available in the Department of Finance press release here. 

Revenue has updated the Tax and Duty Manual regarding income tax credits and reliefs for individuals over 65 and individuals caring for those over 65. The updated material reflects changes to the personal tax credit, the home carer’s tax credit and changes to the rates of USC in accordance with Finance (No.2) Act 2023. 

Revenue has updated the Tax and Duty Manual which provides guidance on the general principles of taxation regarding the leasing of machinery or plant. The manual sets out current Revenue guidance on general matters relating to the taxation of leases of machinery or plant and supersedes previous guidance in this area.   It reflects the general legislative framework applicable when calculating taxable profits and gains related to leases of machinery or plant following the commencement of Finance (No.2) Act 2023 on 1 January 2024. The Institute, under the auspices of the CCAB-I has been providing feedback to Revenue on this updated guidance through the TALC Leasing subgroup.  

HMRC has published updated guidance on full expensing to clarify that corporate partnerships are able to claim, subject to the expenditure qualifying, and the National Audit Office has published its annual reports on the administration of Scottish and Welsh income tax. Various guidance documents on the creative sector reliefs have been updated (see below) and we update you on the removal of the functionality to copy existing VAT clients across to the Agent Services Account (“ASA”) which was previously covered in September and December 2023. The latest HMRC organisation structure is available on GOV.UK and the process for applying for probate in England and Wales has changed. HMRC has also sent its latest News and Information Bulletin.  Updated guidance on creative sector reliefs  HMRC has published updated guidance as follows:-  Claiming Film Tax Relief for Corporation Tax;  Claiming Animation Tax Relief for Corporation Tax;  Claiming High-end Television Tax Relief for Corporation Tax;  Claiming Orchestra Tax Relief for Corporation Tax;  Claiming Theatre Tax Relief for Corporation Tax;  Claiming Video Games Tax Relief for Corporation Tax;  Claiming Children’s Television Tax Relief for Corporation Tax;  Claiming Museums and Galleries Exhibition Tax Relief for Corporation Tax;  Creative industry tax reliefs for Corporation Tax;  Claiming Video Games Expenditure Credits for Corporation Tax; and  Claim Audio-Visual Expenditure Credits for Corporation Tax.  Removal of functionality to copy existing VAT clients across to the Agent Services Account – update  HMRC has provided an update on this issue which confirms that the functionality will be removed from 16 February 2024. A series of questions and answers which we received from HMRC which provides more information is set out below. HMRC has also provided additional information in an email.  “What is happening?  HMRC is removing ‘VAT for Agents’ from the Online Agent Authorisation Service (OAA).  From 16 February 2024, agents who wish to be authorised to represent their clients for VAT must do so in the Agent Services Account (ASA). This process is known as a ‘digital handshake’.  On the same day, HMRC will remove the ability to copy across ‘VAT for agents’ authorisation codes from OAA to ASA.   How does this affect agents?  If agents already use the Agent Services Account for all VAT authorisations, they will see no change.  If agents use ‘VAT for Agents’ in OAA they must stop doing so as soon as possible. From 16 February, the service will be removed from OAA.   This means that agents will no longer be able to use the ‘VAT for Agents’ service in OAA to seek authorisation to represent clients or copy across relationships to their Agent Service Account.  Any ‘VAT for Agents’ authorisation codes generated in the Online Agent Authorisation service before 16 February must be used before 18 March 2024.   How will this affect an agent’s clients?  If an agent has already used OAA to get authorisation to represent a client for VAT, they will see no change.   For new VAT authorisations completed on the Agent Services Account, an agent’s clients must use the web link agents send to them to complete a digital handshake. Clients must have a Government Gateway ID to do this.  Agent’s clients must complete their part of the digital handshake within 21 days of the agent receiving the link. After 21 days, the link will expire, and you will need to begin the process again to generate a new link.  HMRC will not send any links or codes directly to an agent’s clients when an agent seeks authorisation to represent them.  Guidance to support agent’s clients through the digital handshake is available on GOV.UK.  Why is this happening?  HMRC has a number of online services available to agents, many of which are now nearing the end of their lifespan.  To provide a better service to agents, HMRC is starting to move all the functions from these legacy services into a single point of access: the Agent Services Account. By doing so, HMRC aims to make using online services simpler and more consistent across all areas of work.  The Agent Services Account offers agents the ability to transact for VAT clients and to get authorised to represent them. This also removes the need to map across details to ASA using authorisation codes generated in OAA.”  Change to probate in England and Wales  Both HMRC and the HM Courts and Tribunal Service (“HMCTS”) have updated the process for applying for probate in England and Wales. As a result, form IHT400 has been updated.   The change means that personal representatives applying for probate in England and Wales no longer need to complete form IHT421 (probate summary). Instead, when HMRC receives and processes the IHT400, a letter will issue with a unique code and estate value details which should then be used when applying for probate through the HMCTS online portal.  The process for applying for probate remains the same in Northern Ireland and Scotland.