Contents
All change for pensions
A waste of time & money
Tax credit mess
Fuel up (shock)
Gimme shelter
Gulp! SIPPS
Paper or plastic?
Re: Mortgages
Bank the cheque
Subs beware
VAT's the limit
Dividend end?
The buck stops
Sack with care
Selling up
A matter of trust
We're watching
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For the past two years, the Inland Revenue have insisted that any company which issues shares to an employee must make a return of the issue as if it was an "employee share scheme" - a potentially taxable incentive. Unfortunately, the Revenue want returns for every single such issue, not just real incentive schemes. That covers the ordinary incorporation of a small company, because the directors generally end up with some shares - even though there will hardly ever be any possibility of an income tax charge in that situation. Accountants have complained bitterly that this exercise is a complete waste of time and paper. It's interesting to see some statistics published by the Revenue to back this up: in a "consultation exercise" (supposedly asking for suggestions on improving the system), they admit that they received 411,000 forms for the tax year 2003/04, of which only 6,000 were real incentive schemes. The rest were incorporations. That's more than 98% wasted effort. It's hard to imagine that the Revenue really want 395,000 useless pieces of paper a year, but until they admit that, we still have to file them. If you incorporate a new company, or issue shares to someone who is or becomes an employee, you will have to send a report on Form 42 to the Revenue by 6 July following the tax year. |
© Bayar Hughes & Co., 2010.