June 2022

Technical and Client Update

In this issue

Report employee benefits on form P11D by 6 July

Buying an electric car? Does it need to be new?

Salary sacrifices - get the timing right

Capital Gains Tax on separation and divorce

Making Tax Digital for VAT – New penalties for non-compliance

Exam success

Report employee benefits on form P11D by 6 July

P11D forms for reporting expenses and benefits in kind provided to employees and directors in 2021/22 need to be submitted by 6 July 2022.

Remember that reimbursed expenses no longer need to be reported where they are incurred ‘wholly, exclusively and necessarily’ in the performance of the employee's duties. HMRC do however expect internal controls to be in place to ensure that the reimbursed expenses qualify under these terms.

Buying an electric car? Does it need to be new?

The shortage of semiconductors has meant long delays in the delivery of new cars. This has caused many company car drivers to choose a second hand car instead, but what are the tax consequences?

Unless the car has zero emissions, the capital allowance rules are the same for new and used cars bought by the business. Plant and machinery capital allowances may be claimed on the purchase price of the car at either 18% or 6%, depending on whether the CO2 emissions for the vehicle are below or above 50g CO2 per km.

Where a zero-emission car is acquired by the business, a special 100% first year allowance only applies to new cars. There is however an exception for certain ex-demonstrator cars. HMRC accept a car is unused and not second hand provided it has been driven for a limited number of miles for the purposes of testing, delivery, test driven by a potential purchaser or used as a demonstration car.

When calculating the P11D benefit of company cars the original list price inclusive of extras should be used, not the purchase price. Hence the P11D value for a second-hand company car may be significantly higher than the price paid for the vehicle.

Salary sacrifices - get the timing right

Many employers and employees have been putting in place salary sacrifice arrangements to give up some of their contractual salary in exchange for additional pension contributions or an electric company car. In these specific cases and if correctly structured, the employee is taxed on the lower of the taxable benefit and the salary foregone.

In the case of the electric car the benefit is currently 2% of the original list price. There is no taxable benefit on employer pension contributions.

When the director or employee enters into the salary sacrifice arrangement, they must agree with their employer to vary the employment contract well in advance of the date when the first payment under the new arrangement is due to be made. If the contractual changes have not been completed by that date, the terms of the previous contract continue to be in force.

This means that the employee is still entitled to receive, and is therefore still taxable on, the previous higher salary, even though the smaller post- sacrifice amount is paid.

Capital Gains Tax on separation and divorce

When a married couple or civil partners separate, tax planning is understandably not at the top of the list of their thoughts. However, a ‘no gain/no loss’ rule allows capital assets to be transferred between them free of capital gains tax (CGT) up to the end of the tax year in which they permanently separate. Beyond that date, asset transfers between the couple will often give rise to a CGT liability. With many divorce settlements taking several months this is worth careful consideration.

The Office of Tax Simplification has recommended to the Treasury that the no gain/no loss rule should be extended to two years from the date of permanent separation. The government have accepted this recommendation, but the change in rules is yet to be legislated.

The actual date that assets are treated as transferred between the separating couple depends upon how the marriage or civil partnership is dissolved.

It is also important to consider private residence relief (PRR) on the family home. It should be noted that where one spouse or civil partner leaves the matrimonial home, they may continue to be eligible for PRR even if they no longer live in the property. There are specific conditions that need to be satisfied for this to apply.

All in all, CGT on separation is a complex area and please do talk to us if any issues may be in point. We understand the sensitivity of the situation and are here to help.

Making Tax Digital for VAT – New penalties for non-compliance

HMRC have issued guidance for VAT-registered businesses and their agents on how to avoid penalties for non-compliance with the Making Tax Digital for VAT (MTD) rules.

In particular, there is a new £400 per return penalty if you file a return but do not use functional compatible software.

There are additional penalties if the business does not keep its records digitally. HMRC may charge you a penalty of between £5 to £15 for every day on which the business does not meet that requirement.

Key extracts from HMRC guidance include:

You must file your VAT return using functional compatible software

Functional compatible software means a software program, or set of software programs, products or applications (apps) that can:

  • record and store digital records.
  • provide HMRC with information and VAT returns from the data held in those digital records.
  • receive information from HMRC.

You must keep records digitally

You must keep some records digitally within your functional compatible software. This is known as your ‘electronic account’. Your electronic account must contain:

  • your business name, address and VAT registration number.
  • any adjustments from calculations you make outside your functional compatible software for any VAT accounting schemes you use.
  • the VAT on goods and services you supplied, meaning everything you sold, leased, rented or hired (supplies made).
  • the VAT on goods and services you received, meaning everything you bought, leased, rented or hired (supplies received).
  • any adjustments you make to a return.
  • the ‘time of supply’ and ‘value of supply’ (value excluding VAT) for everything you bought and sold.
  • the rate of VAT you charged on goods and services.
  • your reverse charge transactions, where you record the VAT on the sale price and the purchase price of the goods and services you buy.
  • copies of documents that cover multiple transactions made on behalf of your business, like those made by volunteers for charity fundraising, a third-party business or employees for expenses in petty cash.

All transactions must be contained in your electronic account, but you do not need to scan paper records like invoices and receipts.

Please contact us if you need assistance in complying with MTD.

Exam Success

We are pleased to announce that Ella Pickles and Joel Brierley have passed their final exams to become fully qualified Accounting Technicians (AAT).

We are delighted to have yet more exam success within the firm and congratulate Ella and Joel on all their hard work in achieving this qualification.