UHY Ross Brooke reports that HMRC is prompting large businesses to publish their tax strategies online, rather than face penalties. The requirement to publish a tax strategy applies to businesses with turnover exceeding £200m or balance sheet total of more than £2bn (or both).
The firm points out that many businesses may be unaware of the requirement, noting that the duty to publish applies to UK subsidiaries of global groups of companies even if the subsidiary itself falls below the thresholds for publication, potentially causing ‘significant confusion among small UK businesses owned by large overseas corporates’.
Non-compliance can result in an initial penalty of £7,500, with a second £7,500 penalty if the strategy remains unpublished six months after the original deadline, followed by monthly £7,500 penalties until the strategy is published.
David Jones, director at UHY Ross Brooke said: ‘We’ve been getting calls from businesses who have been unpleasantly surprised by HMRC’s crackdown on a failure to publish tax strategies. Many had no idea at all these regulations applied to them, until a nudge letter, or potentially worse, dropped through the letter box.
‘It’s particularly difficult for small UK subsidiaries of overseas corporates as these smaller entities often lack the clout to routinely access details about the size of their group’s whole global activities. As the thresholds for publication are based on global turnover and assets, some very small UK businesses are being prompted, and eventually ordered, to draft and upload the tax strategy’, he added.
UHY Ross Brooke reports that HMRC is prompting large businesses to publish their tax strategies online, rather than face penalties. The requirement to publish a tax strategy applies to businesses with turnover exceeding £200m or balance sheet total of more than £2bn (or both).
The firm points out that many businesses may be unaware of the requirement, noting that the duty to publish applies to UK subsidiaries of global groups of companies even if the subsidiary itself falls below the thresholds for publication, potentially causing ‘significant confusion among small UK businesses owned by large overseas corporates’.
Non-compliance can result in an initial penalty of £7,500, with a second £7,500 penalty if the strategy remains unpublished six months after the original deadline, followed by monthly £7,500 penalties until the strategy is published.
David Jones, director at UHY Ross Brooke said: ‘We’ve been getting calls from businesses who have been unpleasantly surprised by HMRC’s crackdown on a failure to publish tax strategies. Many had no idea at all these regulations applied to them, until a nudge letter, or potentially worse, dropped through the letter box.
‘It’s particularly difficult for small UK subsidiaries of overseas corporates as these smaller entities often lack the clout to routinely access details about the size of their group’s whole global activities. As the thresholds for publication are based on global turnover and assets, some very small UK businesses are being prompted, and eventually ordered, to draft and upload the tax strategy’, he added.
