This report, by the Lexis®PSL Tax, Private Client and Pensions teams, highlights the key provisions in the 2017 Finance Bill, published on 20 March, that have not been previously published in draft, or which have been published with significant amendments since the last draft.
The government announced in the Budget on 8 March its intention to remove the VAT ‘use and enjoyment’ provision for mobile phone services provided to consumers. The current rules mean that providers do not have to account for UK VAT when customers use their phones outside the EU.
The Value Added Tax (Increase of Registration Limits) Order, SI 2017/290, increases the threshold for registration from £83,000 to £85,000 and for deregistration from £81,000 to £83,000 with effect from 1 April 2017.
The Value Added Tax (Amendment) Regulations, SI 2017/295, introduce a new flat-rate of 16.5% for those who fall within the definition of ‘limited cost trader’ from 1 April 2017.
The European Parliament committee on economic and monetary affairs has published its draft report supporting the Commission’s proposal to give all member states the option to apply similarly reduced, super-reduced, or zero rates to electronically-supplied publications, as are currently allowed fo
The Landfill Tax (Amendment) Regulations, SI 2017/332, increase from 4.2% to 5.3% the maximum credit that landfill site operators may claim against their annual landfill tax liability for contributions made in respect of the Landfill Communities Fund, with effect from 1 April 2017.
The CIOT has published additional information it has received from HMRC on changes to the VAT flat-rate scheme. The information concerns:
The Office of Tax Simplification has published an interim report on its VAT simplification review and has issued a further call for evidence around the eight broad areas of complexity identified. The report poses a number of specific questions based on these areas:
The Council of the EU has agreed its general negotiating position for the review of the emissions trading system (EU ETS), which is one of the main tools for achieving a 40% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.