All Tax and legislation articles – Page 43
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ArticleEmployee benefits trusts closed to tax avoidance
A tribunal has closed a tax avoidance scheme which routed the profits of a tax advisory business through employee benefits trusts (EBTs). HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) challenged tax deductions of almost £9 million which tax advisor John Dryburgh’s organisations, Scotts Atlantic Management and Scotts Film Management paid into EBTs.Employee ...
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ArticleUnmissable benefits tax keynote at EB Live
Delegates at Employee Benefits Live 2014 can find out all they need to know about the tax changes impacting benefits in a keynote session on 24 September.In the session titled ‘Business critical tax and legislation changes impacting benefits’, John Whiting (pictured), tax director at the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS), ...
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ArticleHMRC to withdraw employee benefit trust settlement opportunity
Employers that used an employee benefit trust (EBT) before 6 April 2011 must notify HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) by 31 March 2015 if they wish to take advantage of the beneficial terms of the EBT settlement opportunity (EBTSO) to settle the resulting pay-as-you-earn (PAYE) and national insurance contributions (NICs) ...
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ArticleInvestec Bank wins £6m bonus claim
Investec Bank has won a £6-million bonus claim against two former employees.The High Court rejected the claim by Andrew Brogden, former head, and Robert Reid, deputy head, of its structured equity desk.The pair had claimed that their 2010/11 bonus had been pre-agreed in an oral contract with the organisation and ...
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ArticleGovernment launches review of taxation on travel and subsistence expenses
The government has launched the first stage of its review into the taxation of travel and subsistence expenses, which it announced in the 2014 Budget in March.The consultation follows the Office of Tax Simplification’s (OTS) report, Review of employee benefits and expenses: second report, which was published in January 2014.The ...
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ArticleBank of England consults on bankers' bonuses
The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) have published two joint consultation papers aimed at improving individual responsibility and accountability in the banking sector.One of the consultation papers, Strengthening the alignment of risk and reward: new remuneration rules, include proposals for the introduction of new rules on ...
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OpinionJo Broadbent: What equal pay legislation means for employers
From 1 October 2014, tribunals will have the power to require employers that lose an equal pay claim to complete an equal pay audit of their workforce.Employers will normally also be required to publish such audits on their website and draw the audit to the attention of staff. The new ...
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ArticleEAT to hear three cases on holiday pay
The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) is to hear three cases on holiday pay on 30 July.The hearing follows two recent decisions around holiday pay.In June 2014, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that an employee who dies with outstanding holiday pay should be paid this after their death.In May ...
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ArticleHMRC launches consultation on unapproved share schemes
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has published a consultation on one of the Office of Tax Simplication’s (OTS) share scheme recommendations.Its consultation, Office of Tax Simplification review of unapproved share schemes: marketable security, looks at a recommendation made by the OTS in January 2014 that the government introduce the concept ...
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ArticleGovernment proposes halving deferred state pension increase
The government has proposed halving the deferred state pension increase rates from 6 April 2016.Currently, UK workers who reach the state pension age before 6 April 2016 will be able to defer their state pension and benefit from an annual increase of 10.4% on the deferred income.Under the proposals, anyone ...
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ArticleYachts, jewellery and clocks give rise to benefit in kind
The First-Tier Tax Tribunal has ruled that the use of yachts, jewellery and clocks ‘placed at the disposal’ of an employee gives rise to a benefit in kind.In the case, Gillian Rockall v HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), Rockall and her husband were the directors and controlling shareholders of two ...
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ArticleObesity could be covered by anti-discimination law
Employers could be legally required to bear the costs of all necessary reasonable adjustments to accommodate the needs of severely obese employees after an opinion delivered by the Advocate-General of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).The opinion relates to the Danish case, Karsten Kaltoft v Billund Kommune, ...
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OpinionAdam Lambert: How employers can comply with holiday pay law
The European Court of Justice’s (ECJ) ruling in Lock v British Gas Trading Limited and others must be taken into account when calculating an employee’s entitlement to paid holiday.The case concerned an employee whose commission tended to be paid weeks or months after it was actually earned. As a consequence, ...
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Article
HMRC loses Rangers employee benefit trust appeal
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has lost its appeal in the upper tier tax tribunal in the case around defunct Rangers Football Club plc’s use of an employee benefit trusts (EBT).In November 2012, the first tier tax tribunal ruled in favour of the Murray Group, which had owned the club ...
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OpinionJennifer Maxwell: Employers are legally bound to support staff with diabetes
The Equality Act 2010 offers protection to anyone with a disability as defined under the act. People with diabetes can be covered by this definition of disability.The Act places an obligation on employers to make reasonable adjustments to the workplace to enable staff with disabilities to continue in work and ...
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ArticleEAT confirms compulsory retirement at 65 is justified
The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has confirmed that compulsory retirement at the age of 65 can be justified.More than seven years ago, the case Seldon v Clarkson Wright and Jakes raised a claim of age discrimination because Mr Leslie Seldon was forced to retire at age 65 from the law ...
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ArticleIndividual savings account allowance rises to £15,000
The annual individual savings account (Isa) allowance will increase to £15,000 from today (1 July 2014).The increase, which was announced in Chancellor George Osborne’s Budget in March, allows staff transferring exercised shares into an Isa from a maturing employee share scheme to protect more of their gains over the tax-free ...
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ArticleHMRC to raise bonus rates for sharesave schemes
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is to increase the bonus rates payable on five-year sharesave schemes.A new bonus rate of 0.6 times monthly contributions and an annual equivalent rate of 0.39% will be applied to these schemes from 28 July 2014.This is the first time a bonus rate will be ...
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ArticleGovernment sets out legislation on collective pensions
The government has set out legislation on collective pensions in the new Private Pensions Bill.The purpose of the new legislation, which was confirmed in the Queen’s Speech on 4 June, is to enable employers to develop shared risk, or defined ambition, schemes that offer more certain outcomes for employees, while ...
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ArticleGovernment launches consultations on simplifying benefits tax
The government has launched four consultations on proposed changes to simplify the administration of employee benefits in kind and expenses.The consultations, which were announced in Chancellor George Osborne’s 2014 Budget in March, follow a review of employee benefits and expenses carried out by the Office of Tax Simplification.The consultations will ...