Advanced Business Solutions » P11D

Revenue outlines service reduction for share support – is this the thin end of the wedge?

Kate Upcraft — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 09:43:14 +0000

HMRC’s Share Schemes Services Unit have written to their customers outlining the reduced level of support that they can expect as the annual share returns are about to be submitted – to the same deadline as P11Ds. They say:

They prefer email as they cannot guarantee being able to answer the phone
Copies of scheme rules must be sent with queries as HMRC has virtually nothing on file
They have only three inspectors reviewing share scheme documents, compared with ten only a matter of years ago
Correspondence is taking up to six weeks to turn around

They see one of the solutions to these problems, which are not going to abate, being the potential for scheme rules no longer to be approved by HMRC with employers simply taking professional advice.

One wonders what other radical service initiatives will begin to bite on employers as part of the huge reduction in departmental budgets. The decision to close 130 tax offices in March and the impact on access to tax enquiry centres has already caused consternation amongst civil service unions and taxpayers.

Kate Upcraft
Payroll writer and lecturer
ISIS Support Services Ltd
kateupcraft@btconnect.com

Revenue outlines service reduction for share support – is this the thin end of the wedge? is a post from Advanced Business Solutions - Supplier of accounting software, business intelligence and document managment

HMRC manages expectations on service

Kate Upcraft — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 11:32:31 +0000

In its latest newsletter to stakeholders, HMRC’s David Ellis is very clear about the current service standards that employers can expect from the department, and one would suspect that with more budget cuts to come, this will become business as usual.

He says that the position is:

Repayments and forms – broadly five days old;
Pensions and benefits – we are keeping these under 40 days old and hence the oldest items are dated in May;
Customer letters (the catch all after the other two categories are removed) – this post is older but we are recovering ground on this quickly following the redeployment of resources to manage the notice of coding activity earlier this year – around 7% is over three months old.

HMRC has also turned off the ECS interface again which captures data from P46(car) forms and P11Ds, so employers need to make employees aware that if they want to see a prompt code amendment after submission of either form type, they will need to contact HMRC directly. No date for ECS to resume has been given at present.

HMRC manages expectations on service is a post from Advanced Business Solutions - Supplier of accounting software, business intelligence and document managment

New company car fuel rates effective today

Kate Upcraft — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 15:15:35 +0000

The following new advisory fuel rates, often referred to by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) as AFRs, apply to journeys undertaken on and after 1 June 2010 (the rates from 1 December 2009 are in brackets). Advisory fuel rates are provided by HMRC for employers, if they choose, to reimburse their employees for business travel in company cars, or to require employees to reimburse the cost of fuel used for private travel in a company car without attracting a fuel benefit charge.

The fuel benefit charge multiplier for 2010/11 is £18,000. The actual charge is determined by multiplying this figure by the CO2 emissions’ percentage applicable to the car.

As HMRC no longer gives a month’s notice of AFR changes the old rates can be used for up to a month without HMRC deeming, for example, that private fuel has been provided as full reimbursement has not taken place. It is however vital that employers ensure that expenses systems are updated by 30th June so that these new rates are in place for private mileage reimbursement at the very latest from 1st July.

Engine size	Petrol	Diesel	LPG
Up to and including 1,400cc	12p (11p)	11p (11p)	8p (7p)
1,401cc to 2,000cc	15p (14p)	11p (11p)	10p (8p)
Over 2,000cc	21p (20p)	16p (14p)	14p (12p)

These latest rates are based on prices per litre of 119.9p (petrol), 121.9p (diesel) and 65.4p (LPG). For the purpose of these rates, HMRC treats petrol-hybrid cars as petrol cars.

New company car fuel rates effective today is a post from Advanced Business Solutions - Supplier of accounting software, business intelligence and document managment