In the Chancellor’s Summer Statement of 8 July measures were announced to support businesses affected by the enforced closures and social distancing measures necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic. In order to protect jobs in the hospitality and tourism sectors the government has: • Extended the services to which the 5% reduced rate of VAT can...

Rishi Sunak has written to the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) requesting a review of the Capital Gains Tax (CGT) regime. He asks the OTS to determine whether the rules are ‘fit for purpose’ and whether they could be simplified. He also asks them to address ‘areas where the present rules can distort behaviour or...

The Statutory Residence Test is quite a methodical and precise set of tests which are not open to much interpretation in the main. The application of ‘exceptional circumstances’ has, for most of us, rarely been seen in practice. What Qualifies as Exceptional Circumstances The main characteristics of an ‘exceptional circumstance’ are: 1. It is a...

HMRC recently published guidance on the definition and application of ‘exceptional circumstances’ to the COVID 19 pandemic when reviewing residence issues. This brought some hope, but since this there has been no mention of any softening of the approach to Seafarer’s Earnings Deduction claims. Seafarer’s are potentially significantly affected by COVID, as many of them...

Coronavirus Job Retention Bonus The government will introduce a one-off payment of £1,000 to UK employers for every furloughed employee who remains continuously employed through to the end of January 2021. Employees must earn above the Lower Earnings Limit (£520 per month) on average between the end of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) and...