The UK government published draft legislation for the next Finance Bill, together with explanatory notes and tax information and impact notes, on 20 July 2021. The Bill is expected to be introduced to Parliament in late 2021 and will eventually become Finance Act 2022.
Much of the draft legislation deals with relatively minor technical matters, but highlights include the following:
sole trader businesses and partnerships to be taxed by reference to profits earned in the tax year, rather than by reference to the profits of their accounting years, with the changes intended to come in for 2023–24, and with 2022–23 as a transitional tax year;
a proposed increase in the minimum age from which pension scheme members can access their pensions without charge, from 55 to 57, coming in from 2028;
the requirement for large businesses to notify uncertain tax transactions to HMRC are brought back in revised form, with changes to the trigger mechanism;
a further array of tax-avoidance measures focused on promoters, including giving HMRC the right to freeze the assets of promoters where it believes penalties may not be paid; and
measures to tackle electronic sales suppression, where a business ‘deliberately manipulates its electronic sales records in order to hide or reduce the value of individual transactions’.
Consultation on the drafts closes on 14 September 2021. See page 8.
The UK government published draft legislation for the next Finance Bill, together with explanatory notes and tax information and impact notes, on 20 July 2021. The Bill is expected to be introduced to Parliament in late 2021 and will eventually become Finance Act 2022.
Much of the draft legislation deals with relatively minor technical matters, but highlights include the following:
sole trader businesses and partnerships to be taxed by reference to profits earned in the tax year, rather than by reference to the profits of their accounting years, with the changes intended to come in for 2023–24, and with 2022–23 as a transitional tax year;
a proposed increase in the minimum age from which pension scheme members can access their pensions without charge, from 55 to 57, coming in from 2028;
the requirement for large businesses to notify uncertain tax transactions to HMRC are brought back in revised form, with changes to the trigger mechanism;
a further array of tax-avoidance measures focused on promoters, including giving HMRC the right to freeze the assets of promoters where it believes penalties may not be paid; and
measures to tackle electronic sales suppression, where a business ‘deliberately manipulates its electronic sales records in order to hide or reduce the value of individual transactions’.
Consultation on the drafts closes on 14 September 2021. See page 8.
