Other news in brief

In July 2020, the OECD published “Model Rules for Reporting by Platform Operators with respect to Sellers in the Sharing and Gig Economy” under which operators of digital platforms are required to collect and report to the relevant tax authorities, information on certain income generated by sellers through their platforms. These rules cover income realised by sellers offering accommodation, transport and personal services. Then on 22 June 2021, the OECD published “Model Reporting Rules for Digital Platforms: International Exchange Framework and Optional Module for Sale of Goods”. This second report sets out the legal framework to enable international exchange of the information gathered by tax authorities, plus an optional extension of the rules to the sale of goods and the rental of means of transportation. This latest update ensures the OECD’s initiatives in this area are fully aligned with the EU’s.

HMRC have announced the retirement of their Stamp Duty press machines, with effect from 19 July 2021. The physical stamping process will instead be permanently replaced by an electronic process for those transactions that have still required physical stamps, such as duty paid on shares purchased on a stock transfer form. The new electronic stamping process was first introduced in March 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and following its success HMRC have decided to retain the new approach. From 19 July 2021, the new method will be the only valid method of stamping.

On 29 June 2021, HM Treasury launched a consultation on proposals to make business rate revaluations more frequent. Under the proposals, which are part of the Government’s fundamental review of business rates due to be published in autumn, revaluations of non-domestic properties would take place every three years instead of the current system of five. The consultation is open until 24 August 2021.

On 30 June 2021 the Government published the Subsidy Control Bill and an accompanying policy paper. The Bill provides the framework for a new, UK-wide subsidy control regime. This follows a Government consultation which ran between 3 February and 31 March 2021, inviting views on the design of the new regime. An outcome to this consultation was also published.

Commenting ahead of the end of the stamp duty holiday, Jan Crosby, Head of Infrastructure, Building and Construction at KPMG UK, said “the stamp duty holiday has transferred directly into house prices – driving rates of increase to circa 10 percent over the last year. It wasn’t needed at the time as demand was already visibly strong, reflected by the rates of sale, and this continued to be the case when the holiday was extended.”