When I applied for the job at the OTS a year ago now, one of the things I said to John Whiting at the interview (which didn’t seem to do any harm!) was that I’d been keenly interested in simplifying tax throughout my HMRC career.
Back in August I took a show to the Edinburgh Festival all about tax.
Not perhaps the most fertile subject for comedy – HMRC’s cock-ups aside – but I’d concluded that the dearth of media about such an important subject needed to be put right.
Why do most people stop at a red traffic light? Is it fear of punishment, self-preservation, because the law says you should (in other words, respect for the rules) or because society expects you to?
The 2014 Budget announced proposals to allow HMRC to recover tax and tax credit debts directly from taxpayers’ bank and building society accounts, including ISAs and joint accounts, without the need to go to court like everyone else.
It’s the Budget next month and there’s been quite a lot of speculation that the Chancellor may reduce the top rate of income tax. The 50% rate was introduced by the last Labour Chancellor from 6th April 2010 for those with incomes of over £150,000 a year.
Any business that registered or should have registered for VAT after 31 March 2010 has had to submit its VAT Return online and pay electronically. The only exception (in new regulation 25A(4) Value Added Tax Regulations 1995) is for businesses run by those whose religious beliefs prevent them from using computers. So faith doesn’t just move mountains…