With less than a week until Chancellor Alastair Darling’s second Budget statement the speculation as to what may be announced on Wednesday 22 April 2009 is mounting.

Political  commentators such as www.politics.co.uk suggest that on one hand it should be a neutral Budget, but on the other hand spending is now part of the Government’s DNA. The British Retail Consortium (BRC), is reported in The Telegraph as saying that, “the high street is in need of some retail therapy”.

The Times reports that, “the Budget will make or break renewable energy” and the BBC is giving its own predictions here.

From a tax perspective much has already been announced in respect of the current tax year, but there may be changes announced for later years. Those dealing with the taxation of non-domiciled UK residents would welcome some simplification of the horrendously complex new rule introduced in Mr Darling’s first Budget last year. 

As usual, we will just have to wait and see! 

We will of course be blogging on SME Plus Blog and Tax Plus Blog, providing analysis on the key highlights next Wednesday.    

If you do not already subscribe to our blogs click here for SME Plus Blog or here for Tax Plus Blog to ensure you get our comment and analysis as and when it happens. 

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The Chancellor will make his Budget statement on Wednesday 22 April 2009.  We will be providing analysis of Budget announcements on the day.
 

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Alongside proposed increases in income tax the Chancellor has announced increases in National Insurance Contributions (NIC) will be increased by 0.5% across the board from April 2011.

This means that employers’ contributions will be increased to 13.3% and the main rates for employees and the self employed will be increased to 11.5% and 8% respectively. The additional rate for those who earn in excess of the upper earnings limit will also be increased by 0.5% to 1.5%

This is part of a package of proposed tax increases to help fund the short term measures announced elsewhere in his report.
 

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This year’s Finance Bill is close to gaining Royal Assent and the Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT) has already submitted its “wish list” for the 2009 Budget. One of the suggestions put forward is that income tax and National Insurance Contributions (NIC) should be merged into one tax. Failing that “radical” change, the CIOT suggests that there should be further alignment between the two taxes.

The wish list forms part of a submission by the CIOT to Dave Hartnet the acting head of HM Revenue & Customs. Other items on the wish list include:

• A Statutory Residence Test,
• A small benefits exemption (£25) so that trivial employee benefits are tax free and need not be reported,
• An “Elderly Care Vouchers” exemption based on the current Child Care Vouchers system,
• An extension of the Gift Aid system to include non-UK charities, and a similar extension for inheritance tax purposes, and
• A suggestion that the proposed “income shifting” provisions, currently postponed until next year should be “quietly dropped”.
  

Full details of the CIOT’s submission can be found here

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Please find below a blog which you might find of interest from my colleague Cathy Corns, who writes for our sister blog SME Plus...

HMRC has published new guidance on the new penalty provisions that will apply from April 2008.

HMRC states that it has designed the new penalties so that:

• If people take reasonable care when completing their returns they will not be penalised.
• If they do not take reasonable care errors will be penalised, and the penalties will be higher if the error is deliberate.
• Disclosing errors before HMRC find them will substantially reduce any penalty due.

The new penalties initially apply to VAT, PAYE, National Insurance, Capital Gains Tax, Income Tax, Corporation Tax and the Construction Industry Scheme.

Further information can be found at:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/about/new-penalties/penalties-leaflet.pdf
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/about/new-penalties/faqs.htm

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Below is a blog written my colleague and Mercer & Hole partner Cathy Corns on SME Plus blog, in relation to the government's retreat on key tax reforms.

According to The Times the Government are looking to mitigate the changes proposed in the Pre Budget Statement three weeks ago. Apparently the plan is to introduce a form of retirement relief of £100,000, aimed to assist small businessmen who are selling up and retiring. As of the time this was posted the HMRC website had no details on this and so we do not know if it is accurate and, if so what is meant by small or retiring or what tests have to be met to qualify.

Any mitigation of the tax is welcome and I will be in touch again when more details are available.

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The Sunday Times reported yesterday that Alastair Darling was proposing a “purchase tax” on high polluting cars (4x4s etc). Details were obtained from a leaked Treasury document which also revealed that the top rate of road fund tax is also due for a large increase.

The surcharge has apparently been set at £2,000 while at the other end of the scale buyers of very green cars will be able to claim a rebate of £2,000 off the purchase price.

The proposals are strikingly similar to those put forward by the Conservatives as reported in Motor Trader last week.

No doubt all will become clear in next months Pre Budget Report.

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HMRC have tightened up their interpretation of rules which can enable employers to pay for taxis for late working employees without incurring a tax liability.

If an employee works later than usual at night it is not uncommon for an employer to pay for a taxi home. Is this a taxable benefit? In general – Yes – but there is an exemption in certain circumstance provided by the tax legislation (section 248 Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003).

The circumstances are:

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