AIA on assets introduced personally to a business

Can you claim an Annual Investment Allowance (AIA) on assets introduced personally to a business.  E.g. by a sole-trader on incorporation?

Answer: No.  AIA is denied in several circumstances as part of an anti-avoidance rule, including transactions between connected persons:

Connected persons transactions: if a person incurs expenditure in a transaction with a connected personCA28800, no AIA is due (CAA01/S214 & S217). There is an example of a connected person transaction (where brothers attempted to exploit the legislation to obtain more allowances than was intended) at CA28100. This anti-avoidance rule prevents such exploitation and denies an AIA in all cases where the parties to the relevant transaction CA28200 are connected.

Clarification on the supply of exhibition stands in the UK to EU business customers

HMRC have clarified the VAT treatment of business to business supplies of land related to exhibition stands when supplied with other services, so that the UK is not at a disadvantage.  This was because other EU countries were interpreting the recent changes to the place of supply slightly differently.

Currently HMRC regards the supply of specific stand space at an exhibition or conference as a supply of land. This policy will continue where the service is restricted to the mere supply of space without any accompanying services.

However, where stand space is provided with accompanying services as a package, this package (stand and services) will no longer be seen as a supply of land with land related services but will be taxed under the general place of supply rule (customer location) when supplied to business customers.

Are penalties and/or interest allowed as deductions for corporation tax purposes?

From Section 1303 of CTA2009:

1. In calculating profits for any corporation tax purpose, no deduction is allowed for any penalty or interest mentioned in the first column of the following table.

2. The table:

Penalty or interest	Description of tax, levy or duty
Penalty under any of sections 60 to 70 of VATA 1994	Value added tax
Interest under section 74 of VATA 1994
Penalty under any of sections 8 to 11 of FA 1994	Excise duties
Penalty under any of paragraphs 12 to 19 of Schedule 7 to FA 1994	Insurance premium tax
Interest under paragraph 21 of that Schedule
Penalty under any provision of Part 5 of Schedule 5 to FA 1996	Landfill tax
Interest under paragraph 26 or 27 of that Schedule
Penalty under any provision of Schedule 6 to FA 2000	Climate change levy
Interest under any of paragraphs 70, 81 to 85 and 109 of that Schedule
Penalty under any provision of Part 2 of FA 2001	Aggregates levy
Interest under any of paragraphs 5 to 9 of Schedule 5 to, paragraph 6 of Schedule 8 to and paragraph 5 of Schedule 10 to FA 2001
Penalty under section 25 or 26 of FA 2003	Customs, export and import duties
Penalty under any provision of Part 4 of FA 2003	Stamp duty land tax
Interest under any provision of that Part
Interest required to be paid by regulations made under section 71 of FA 2004 (construction industry)	Income tax

3. In calculating profits for any corporation tax purpose, no deduction is allowed for any surcharge under section 59 of VATA 1994.

How to get your National Insurance Number (NINO)

If you have forgotten your NINO (national insurance number) you can compete a form ca5403 (PDF) to send to HMRC and they will send you a letter confirming what it is.  There is more information on the form on the HMRC website including what to do if you want to apply for a NINO in the first place.

When do you need to register for VAT?

VAT registration is required for businesses making taxable supplies when the either of the following apply:

1. The value of taxable supplies made in the previous 12 months exceeds the VAT registration threshold; or
2. The trader has reasonable grounds for believing that the value of taxable supplies in the next 30 days (or their own) will exceed the vat registration threshold.

The current VAT threshold is £77,000 for businesses registering from 1 April 2012 onwards.

Common misunderstanding with the 30 day rule: you don’t look forward 30 days and add this to the 11 previous months.  They are separate rules.  With the 30 day rule you only look at the forthcoming 30 days.

You must charge VAT at the beginning of the month after the month you satisfy rule 1 (historic test), or immediately if you satisfy rule 2 (30 day rule).

For example, if you had made taxable supplies in the 12 months to 31 December 2012 of £70,000, then you would not need to register, but if you had made supplies totalling £80,000 in the year ending 31 January 2013, then you would need to register for VAT within February 2013 and charge VAT from 1 March 2013 onwards.

Working alone in the office

Today I heard another person recite the myth about it being illegal to be left alone at work, so I thought that this information from the government agency HSE (the Health and Safety Executive) might be useful.

Can a person be left alone at their place of work?

There are no absolute restrictions on working alone; it will depend on the findings of a risk assessment.

Identity document checking at the Post Office

As part of the money laundering requirements, accountants and other professionals need to to have evidence on file that they have verified the identity of a client.  If the client visits the office with the original documents this is ideal, but if the client is unable to do this, then sending photocopies in the post won’t be acceptable as the accountant cannot verify they are accurate copies.

The post office now run a service to verify photocopies and for £7.15 they will verify 3 documents.

If you’re applying for a mortgage, bank account or new job you might need to have your identity documents checked and verified. We’ll check up to 3 original documents against the photocopies and certify each photocopy as a true likeness of the original document.

Of course, the accountant/solicitor etc. will need to make sure that the same person who has their documents certified is the new client (e.g. by sending an engagement letter to the address to check the client has access to the address on the verified documents).  But as an alternative to paying a solicitor (or the old accountant!) to verify the documents this should make things easier.