Weekly tax brief | 2 August 2022

The impact of a 4 per cent cut in income tax
Chris Etherington
 The former Chancellor Rishi Sunak has vowed to cut the basic rate of income tax from the current rate of 20 per cent to 16 per cent by the end of the next parliament, should he be successful in his bid to become the UK’s next Prime Minister and win the next general election. We look at some of the potential implications of such a policy and there are some surprising outcomes.

The Register of Overseas Entities is live and could hit SDLT receipts
Michaela Norman and Adam Jefferies
The Register of Overseas Entities went live on 1 August 2022 which means that there is now a requirement to declare personal information if you are a beneficial owner of UK property held through an offshore structure. We look at the rules and the likely impact on stamp duty land tax receipts.

First-tier Tribunal ruling is a wake-up call for employers who claimed CJRS
Susan Ball
An employer has lost its tribunal case challenging HMRC’s clawback of Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) support payments. Carlick Contract Furniture’s First-tier Tribunal appeal was dismissed as the company failed to complete a real time information (RTI) submission for the employees in question before the qualifying date. The ruling serves as a warning to other employers that the rules around CJRS clawbacks are being applied to the letter, with no room for interpretation or consideration of the circumstances.

The numbers of non-doms are falling but they still contribute a large amount of tax to the Exchequer
Rachel de Souza and Chris Down
The government has released statistics showing that the number of those claiming non-domiciled tax status continues to fall. The latest figures continue a trend that has been evident since reforms were introduced in 2017 so this not a surprise, but is it a good or bad thing?

Farmers and doctors could face surprise tax penalties
Adela Cebotari
Farmers and doctors are among those that could face a surprise penalty from HMRC due to new rules to register trusts by 1 September 2022. Those that own land and property via general partnerships, where the assets are held by some or all of the individual partners as trustees, need to take action now.

Taxpayers face more penalties as property disposals must be reported twice
Heather Pendlebury
HMRC has clarified that, with one exception, a capital gains tax UK property return must still be filed even if the disposal has already been reported on a self-assessment tax return. This could lead to thousands more taxpayers missing the deadline, as highlighted by new data obtained by RSM UK in a Freedom of Information request.

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